


The Angel Project

by MelodramaticSalad



Series: The Angel Project [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2017-12-05 05:24:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodramaticSalad/pseuds/MelodramaticSalad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where being a Hunter in a world of androids can sometimes have it perks. Sam always wanted to have a chance to see just how the androids work and finally his hard work pays off. There's just something so interesting about the newest project that their company gives them the chance to test. Dean/Castiel, Sam/Gabriel</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

Perhaps being in the security business wasn't so bad. Sam and Dean were trained Hunters, the muscle of the Angelis Corporation. Some of them were tasked with being bodyguards for the higher ups since information on their programming was so valuable outside of the company walls. Others kept Demons, mostly renegade androids, or the humans that provide them with orders and ideals in check. Most of those humans kept in hiding for obvious reasons, since their main focus was to get their hands on whatever was next in line from Angelis. They were greedy little people who starved for power and would do anything to get it. Dean and Sam did a little bit of both, joking about how this was the family business. Their father before them was a Hunter while their mother had worked in the labs teaching the beta androids until they passed their tests and were ready to distribute.

Maybe that's what helped them with their entries in the company raffle. A new line of androids were going to become available to the public, they just needed to finish the testing beforehand. This part of the experiment was testing. 

Sam entered because he was really interested on getting to test one of the new models, always wanting to know as much as he possibly could about them. Dean on the other hand mostly entered as a joke, since he knew there was no way in hell he could possibly have the chance to test one of the brand new products.

That's why it was so shocking to him when they were called back to the offices and their head of security was sitting at his desk, talking to Michael, the very son of the CEO of Angelis.

"Dean, Sam, I'd like you to meet Michael Milton." Bobby motioned to the dark haired man. Michael looked over the two before holding his hand out to him, the other resting in his suit pocket.

"It's nice to meet the two of you. After looking at your files, we decided that it would be best if the two of you were put in charge of testing and guarding the new project." Dean didn't expect that at all, figuring they'd give the task to some higher ups.

"You're kidding right?" Dean asked before Sam elbowed him in the ribs.

"Sorry about my brother. We're very happy that you chose us for it." Sam said as Michael looked Dean over, sizing him up for a moment.

"No, we are not kidding. This task will be very serious since it will determine the next phase of our project. You two should know that we can't afford to let things go wrong with this project, correct? People will want to get their hands on them, so that's why we have a few rules the two of you need to abide too. First, only people in this building can know that they are angels. If they are outsiders, then they probably don't need to know anything about them. Second, they are going to be learning a lot of things from their surroundings which will be with the two of you, just remember that. Lastly, if anything goes wrong with them or they break in any way, you bring them right back here. Those shouldn't be too hard to follow." Michael explained, leading them to the lab that the latest androids were being held in. Michael scanned his card and pressed his thumb to the scanner before heading inside with the Winchesters in tow. They were led down a hallway filled with doorways and windows to show what was going on in each room, most of which were empty. Michael finally stopped in front of a window and nodded to the Winchesters.

"This is Project Castiel and Project Gabriel. They're part of the line that we are going to try putting out. Take good care of them and everything will go smoothly." Dean and Sam looked through the window, seeing two men in white scrubs. One of them, the one with dark, messy hair, was sitting in a chair in the corner, slowly flipping through a book. The other was sitting in on the table, conversing with a shorter man in a lab coat. That one's amber eyes lit up as he talked and smiled widely, running his fingers through his own golden brown hair. "Go on in and get acquainted with them. If you have any questions, Chuck will make sure to answer them for you. He's also the one that you'll need to take them to if they break." He explained before turning and starting to head back down the hall.

"Aren't you going in?" Sam asked curiously.

"I can't." Michael replied. "There's some other things I've gotta take care of." He glanced back at them for a moment before leaving the brothers alone in the hall.

"Well, I guess we just go in then." Sam said softly, earning a shrug from Dean before he opened the door and walked in. The man in the lab coat looked up at the brothers, furrowing his eyebrows. He wore an ID badge with his name, Chuck Shurley, photo and identification number.

"Are you supposed to be back here?" He asked, looking a little nervous.

"Yeah, I'm Sam and this is my brother, Dean. We're the ones who are going to be taking care of Castiel and Gabriel." He explained, hoping that the guy knew who they were.

The man thought about that, scratching at the scruff on his face before he nodded. "Alright, I'm Chuck and I'm supposed to give you a rundown of what you need to know. I got a manual set up for you guys just in case you have a question but can't reach me or just need a quick reference. One thing you need to know is that if Gabriel says he's hungry, he's lying. He doesn't need food, he just likes to chew it." He stated, not seeing the android on the table reaching into a bowl of M&M's so he could continue munching them. Sam smiled at that, watching him fully interested.

"Can they taste?"

"Yeah, they can taste and Gabriel tries to taste everything. Be careful with him when he's around food. Second thing, Castiel likes reading, a lot. If you can, get him a library card. He'll probably go through the whole place in a few weeks though." He said softly, looking back at the darker haired one reading. "For their batteries, you can get some of their power from being in the sun, so if you're outside a lot you won't have to worry too much. But then, at night when you're resting, it's easier to just plug them in. Gabriel, turn around please." Gabriel huffed through a mouthful of melting chocolate, slowly turning around on the desk. Chuck moved Gabriel's hair behind his left ear, gently pushing down on the skin until a small place for a plug and a square button were revealed from under the detachable plate. "There's a plug I'll give you for each of them and you just charge them at night by plugging them in. This button though," He said softly, pointing to the square button above the plug, "don't push it unless you absolutely have to. This is the off button. Gabriel can be annoying at times if you aren't used to him, but just be careful to not push it." He replied, putting the plate back in place before Gabriel turned to stick his tongue out at him. "Castiel's is in the same spot, just so you know." He added, picking up a box and handing it to Dean. "Everything you'll need is in here and good luck." He said softly before looking back at Gabriel and Castiel. He was going to miss the two of them.

Castiel set his book down, getting to his feet so he could look over the humans. He tilted his head, looking Dean over curiously. "You are the ones taking us in?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's right. The name's Dean." He stated, holding his hand out to him. Castiel stared at his hand, furrowing his eyebrow before slowly taking his hand. "You haven't taught them about handshakes?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

Chuck shrugged at that. "They've had more important things to discover."

"Like chocolate." Gabriel stated, a handful of the tiny candies in his mouth again. Sam couldn't believe how human-like they were and was so excited to get to see them functioning up close. Gabriel stared at Sam, seeing that he was watching him and gave him an over-exaggerated smile, showing him his chocolate covered teeth before he went back to eating them.

"Does he have a digestive system?" Sam asked Chuck, watching Gabriel continue to eat.

"Sort of, think of it like a garbage disposal." He replied. "That's the really simple version of it. They usually clean themselves out internally so you don't have to worry about it."

"That's a relief." Dean stated, wondering why Castiel was still staring at him like he had two heads. If anything, Dean was the normal one here. Weird robots...

"So, like I said, if you guys need anything else, just call me...Make sure you take great care of them too." Chuck said softly, hating to see them go.

"Don't worry, even if they don't need any maintenance we can probably bring them over every now and again while we work." Sam assured him, smiling when Chuck brightened up at that.

"I'd really like that. Just make sure you take good care of them." He noted, giving Castiel and Gabriel one last hug. Dean almost made a comment about how they could hug but not handshake but Sam stopped him with what Dean liked to call his bitch face. Once the goodbyes were said, they lead Castiel and Gabriel outside, wondering what exactly they could teach the Angels.

Dean and Sam escorted the prototypes to their home, living in the housing that was usually provided for Hunters. They were given a three bedroom home near their work so it was a simple commute in the mornings. Castiel and Gabriel were looking around at everything, loving the appearance of the neighborhoods that they passed through. Dean soon parked in front of their home before helping them out of the car. Gabriel still had his bowl of M&M's since it kept him happy and mostly quiet. Sam didn't mind it if their digestive system could handle it.

"You live here?" Castiel asked softly, walking over to the lawn. The Angels were barefoot but they didn't seem to mind it. They both wore matching bands around their wrists, tags from the laboratory. They closely resembled hospital tags but they simply said 'Castiel-00' and 'Gabriel-00' on them where it would say their names. On the other side was a code which was used for taking them in and out of the building. Castiel paused when he got on the lawn, staring at Dean with wide eyes.

Dean instantly thought that they were going to get ambushed and quickly looked around. "What's wrong?" He asked, hand resting in his gun holster.

"This...feels weird." Castiel said softly before he dropped to his knees and began feeling over the grass more, completely intrigued by the dark green blades. Dean really didn't know what to make of this, staring at Castiel in confusion when Gabriel decided to join in on the fun.

"Oh wow, this really does feel freaky in person." He laughed, running his hands over it. Before Sam and Dean knew it, they were rolling over the grass, their white clothes getting covered in the dark green streaks.

"Come on you guys, you're making a mess of yourselves." Sam lightly scolded, holding his hand out to Gabriel. Gabriel stared up at him, smiling widely as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well we've never left the lab, what would you expect?" He asked, moving to lay down so he could make a grass angel.

"You guys have really never been outside?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Before now, there was never a reason for us to be outside." Castiel responded, watching his brother unit play before he noticed something flying around the flowers and had to get a closer look. Dean groaned, seeing how easily distracted this things were. No wonder they were just handed over. Sam noticed Dean's exasperation and shrugged his shoulders, giving him a small smile.

"At least they're keeping charged out here." He pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true...Maybe we should just let them play in the backyard." Dean replied, seeing that Castiel was completely engrossed with watching bugs. The Hunters had to drag the Angels away from the their spots to get them in the backyard. Luckily there were plenty of bugs for Castiel to observe while Gabriel was more content in flattening the grass to make shapes and sometimes letters. Dean and Sam headed inside while the two played, keeping an eye on them from the window.

"At least they're easy to keep entertained." Dean stated, watching the angels. "So this won't be too hard if we can keep them busy with simple things like bugs, flowers, and grass."

"Yeah, don't forget we need to stay on guard when we're out with them. We don't know how many people have their eyes on them."

"Don't be such a pessimist, Sammy. No one even knows that they're out and about." Dean mumbled with an eye roll.

"All I'm saying is that we have to be careful. They're not even ours."

"Ugh, are you seriously gonna bitch about the testing chance that you've been going on about for years?"

"Don't be a jerk, Dean. I'm just trying to think realistically about all of this."

"Just calm down, Samantha. We're not gonna let anything happen to them. They'll be okay. And if anything does happen, like their batteries die, we can just take them back to Chuck. Not everything is going to end up full of problems, nerd." Sam rolled his eyes at that, just not wanting to have the company hunting them down if something happened to their prototypes.

 

After a while of playing, Gabriel soon came inside, leaving Castiel out to play with the bees and butterflies. He found Sam doing dishes in the kitchen, grinning at him.

"Hey, Gigantor. Do you got any clothes I can wear? I doubt you want me to keep wearing these." He stated, tugging at his now mostly green shirt. Sam smiled at that, nodding as he set the clean dishes aside.

"Yeah, I'll try to see if I can find something that'll actually fit you. Just wait here." He instructed the Angel before going to search for some new clothes.

Sam couldn't find anything that would fit Gabriel just right so he gave him a plain black long sleeved shirt and some of Dean's boxer shorts since those would probably fit him better. He made a mental note to take the angels shopping once they got their grass stained clothes washed. Gabriel changed into the clothes quickly, handing the messy ones to Sam. He currently occupied himself with sitting on the floor as he stared at the television, the shirt drowning his smaller frame. The wide collar left the android's shoulder bare and Sam could see the black outline of some sort of marking on his light skin. Sam furrowed his eyebrows at that and found himself lightly tugging at the back of Gabriel's shirt to see the markings better. Gabriel glanced back at him curiously but said nothing, wanting to see what he was planning. The markings turned out to be the outlines of wings, tattooed in his skin. Sam ran his thumb over the tattoo, feeling the Angel shudder under his touch. So they really did make them as human as they possibly could manage in most aspects.

"How long have you had this mark, Gabriel?" Sam asked softly, continuing to trace it.

"Since creation. What can I say? They really wanted to make us Angels." He said softly, grinning back at him.

Sam nodded at that, unable to believe how realistic he was. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought that the man in front of him was human. Gabriel soon turned around, looking over Sam curiously. "You're really interested in us, aren't you?" Gabriel asked softly, staring into his eyes.

"Yeah, I really am. I want to know all about how you function." He said honestly which caused Gabriel to snicker. "Why is that so funny?"

"I find it hilarious that you are a nerd about this. Maybe you'll get a kick out of this." He said softly, taking Sam's hand and moving it under the collar of his shirt to rest on his chest. Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before he felt light thumping under his chest.

"It's like we are human, but we really aren't if you look in the right places. I mean, we could be fully functional humans to the naked eye. Despite my skeletal structure, my nerve wiring, synthetic blood, and 'organs' we aren't that different." He said softly, letting go of Sam's hand. "We're conscious of what we do, unless we were to end up in the wrong hands. Then they could hack into our database, override our coding and who knows what they would do to us. You must be very trusted if you and your brother were entrusted with Castiel and I." Gabriel said with a wide smile. "As long as you have our manuals, you should be fine. And if we break, Chuck will fix us."

"Alright, so how exactly does you mind work?" Sam asked, wanting to know more about what made the one in front of him work.

"Our personalities are made up in the company. So Castiel is more introverted and curious, while I'm a crafty, rambunctious kind of guy." Gabriel started, turning so he could look Sam in the eyes. "I can't explain a whole lot to you since it'd be way beyond your level of cognitive understanding. We have really big computers compacted into our minds okay?" He asked, earning a bitch face from Sam. "Pretty much, our hardware comes with our personality built in to the company or the customer's specifications and we have software that allows us to continue learning from our environments. So there's not much I can really say about all of this. Did you at least understand that?" He asked with a sly smile, earning an amused scoff from Sam.

"Yeah, I think I got that." He stated.

"Good because I'm not explaining it to you again, sweet cheeks. That's my take on the subject on how an angel's mind works. You'll get more used to it as we go on." Gabriel replied, getting to his feet.

"I have another question. Do you ever have problems moving?"

"Um, if our charge is low then yeah our bodies feel heavy and we just need to go lay down until we have a full charge again. Oh yeah, we do have pain sensors, thus the synthetic blood. If you hurt us, we will feel it. Just an FYI." He said softly, getting to his feet. "We're tough though so we probably aren't going to run into a wall and spray blood everywhere."

"Where are you going?" Sam asked, wondering what he was up to.

"I'm going back outside with Castiel, duh." He stated.

"Then what was the point of changing clothes?" He frowned as Gabriel turned back to grin at him, shrugging his shoulders.

"I just got sick of wearing white."


	2. Angels Don't Sleep

The first few days of having the Angels in the Winchester home was a bit tiring. They had to watch them to make sure they didn't get into any trouble. One of the times they left them alone, Gabriel tried to get Castiel to stick his fingers and even a fork in an electrical plug to see what would happen. After that, Sam made sure to keep an eye on Gabriel so he couldn't cause any problems. Usually turning on the television would keep him occupied for a while. Castiel still enjoyed sitting outside and watching the birds and bees, finding them completely interesting. Dean watched Castiel whistle at birds, slowly matching the bird's tone and call.

"So are you just part recording device or something?" Castiel looked back at Dean confused before he shook his head.

"Not really. I don't think we have recording capabilities...We just are able to imitate certain noises and sounds." He explained.

"So pretty much the same thing." Dean stated as Castiel shrugged his shoulders, smiling a little as he looked back at the bird and whistled at him again. Dean watched him for a bit longer before he began whistling the tune to Don't Fear The Reaper, an old song that his father showed him when he was a kid. Castiel paused and looked back at Dean, slowly whistling each note carefully before he matched it and whistled along with Dean.

"Have you heard that song before?" Dean asked curiously, stopping in the middle.

"No I haven't. Did you make that up yourself?" He asked, cocking his head. Dean chuckled at that, shaking his head.

"No. Follow me and I'll show you." He motioned for him to follow him before getting the old tape player that his father gave him. He searched his box quickly for the correct one before he popped it in and the song came on. Castiel sat down, staring at the tape deck as the music sounded from it. He soon began whistling lightly to it, seeing that it was the same song that Dean had showed him the notes to. Dean couldn't help but smile at that, seeing that the angel seemed to like it. "Do you want to hear more songs?" He asked when the song finally ended. Castiel nodded, looking up at Dean for a moment before he looked back down at the cassette tapes.

"Yes, I would like that." He murmured, poking at a few of them lightly.

Dean shook his head at that, going to teach the Angel a few things about music. He spent the next few hours telling him all about his favorite bands and how he wished he could see them in concert, the best ways to really appreciate the music, and why he wished that other music nowadays could sound as good as these songs did.

Sam's luck with Gabriel was a bit different since it was mostly making sure he didn't get into trouble when he was bored.

"So why do you eat?"

"Because things taste good." He shrugged.

"You don't get hungry, do you? Or does your body sense it?"

"Here comes the barrage of questions, once again." He smirked, winking at Sam to show it was alright. "We technically don't get hungry or require eating. Just call it a fun time passer." He said with a shrug. He had found a deck of cards and was shuffling them before he would put them in order and then shuffle them again.

Sam and Dean spent their day off teaching the Angels about the stuff around them. Dean taught Castiel about his music and his car, showing him how it worked. Sam on the other hand talked to Gabriel about what it was like being a Hunter and would ask him questions about what it was like to be an Android. Gabriel mostly gave snarky remarks but still answered each and every question as he tried to braid Sam's hair. He considered that payment for his answers.

Since they were the ones who were trusted to guard the Angel projects and they were so unique, it was only natural for the brothers to freak out when they broke for the first time.

The brothers had both been in their beds, deep asleep when a loud crash jolted them out of their sleep. Dean rolled out of his bed, glancing at his alarm clock. 3:15 April 15th, 2108.

Gabriel was asleep face down the middle of the couch, his arm draping off the edge. Castiel on the other hand was face down on the floor in the

broken glass and wood of what used to be the coffee table.

Dean's stomach twisted, quickly rushing to Castiel's side and turning him over. The android's eyes were closed and larger shards of glass were embedded in his face and some of them going through his shirt and into his chest. Synthetic blood trickled through his shirt and down his face and Dean feared that the Angel was dead. He tried shaking him awake and nothing. He didn't even feel him breathing.

"Fuck, Sam! What do we do?" He looked up at Sam desperately, not knowing how they were going to explain breaking Castiel in the first week.

Sam shook his head, at a loss for words as he stared at the despondent angel in Dean's arms. "Maybe...Maybe Gabriel will know what to do." He tried to assure Dean, going to the smaller male before trying to shake him awake. No response. Sam shook him a little harder until Gabriel rolled off of the couch and onto his back. Gabriel didn't even stir. Sam cursed under his breath and tried to feel for a heartbeat. Nothing. "He's not working, Dean." He mumbled, kneeling beside Gabriel and gently slapping his cheek.

"How the hell did they both break?!" Dean snapped at Sam, looking up from Castiel. "And at the same time too?"

Sam quickly shook his head, slipping his arms under Gabriel's head and knees to scoop him up in his arms. "We need to get them to Chuck as soon as possible."

"It's three in the morning, I doubt he's still gonna be awake!" Dean snapped at him, carefully picking Castiel up so he didn't push the glass in any deeper.

They carefully got the angels into the backseat of their car and got in before they rushed to the Angelis headquarters as Sam called Chuck, expressing how much of an emergency that the had on their hands. They used their badges to get in and Chuck was waiting for them with hovering gurneys. Each Winchester set their android on one of them before they were moved towards the repair room.

"What happened to them?" Chuck asked, mortified to see that Castiel was bleeding out from different parts of his body.

"I don't know, we just heard this crash and we found them like this. Gabriel just wasn't moving either. I don't really know how to explain it." Sam mumbled, watching as Chuck began examining them.

Chuck looked Castiel over carefully, prodding at him with a few different tools before he narrowed his eyes and turned in his chair to check over Gabriel again. He soon groaned and rested his face in his palm. "Are you serious?" He sighed, moving again so he could plug some wires into the back of each android's head.

"What's going on?" Sam asked as Chuck frowned up at them.

"Their batteries are dead. You haven't been charging them." He said simply, grabbing some other tools so that he could remove the glass from Castiel.

Sam and Dean paused, not expecting that to be the problem. "You can't be serious." Dean groaned.

"Other than the glass in Castiel, the only thing wrong with them is drained batteries. I'm guessing Castiel went to go get his charger and passed out. Gabriel just passed out anyways, not even bothering with it. It's not the first time this has happened, but I hope you guys will start charging them." He explained tiredly, hating that he could out of bed for this.

"Well, Castiel's been outside so much..." Dean started, watching the extraction process.

"So, since Gabriel's been inside more, is that why it died?" Sam asked, comparing their battery life spans.

"Castiel's lasted longer for that reason." Chuck nodded, setting the bowl with the bloody glass aside before grabbing a device to x-ray Castiel's body to make sure that nothing serious had been hit by the glass. "You two can head home if you want. I'll charge them here and you can take them home later." He yawned, closing his eyes for a moment before he went back to working.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, not wanting to trouble him more.

"Yeah, there's nothing else here you guys can do." He replied softly, focusing on his work.

Dean nodded, yawning and pushing Sam towards the door. "Sorry 'bout waking you. Thanks for fixing them up." Chuck nodded in acknowledgment, still not too happy.

Dean and Sam didn't find sleep easily after that, too riled up by the earlier events. Thankfully they didn't have to be to work until eight and got there almost on time. Dean clocked in a 8:15, heading to the break room to grab a bite to eat.

"Morning." He yawned to one of his co-Hunters, a workaholic named Victor Henricksen. When Dean and Sam weren't on the same jobs, usually Dean was with Victor. He was someone who got information fast, and even if he sometimes bended a few rules, he got his job done fast. He was quickly working his way to becoming a Captain, which Dean knew he deserved in each aspect. He just wished more people on the team were like him. There were ones who were too uptight and ones who didn't seem to even know what they were doing.

"You're late again." Victor pointed out, mixing a fresh cup of coffee. He leaned back against the counter, watching as Dean grabbed a couple donuts from a box on the table.

"Didn't get much sleep." He shrugged before biting into a glazed one. "It's not like I'm an hour late or anything either."

"Just be careful, you never know when they're gonna get anal about it." Victor stated, not that he cared too much. He had his own late days every now and again.

"I'll just worry about that time when it comes then." Dean smirked, eating his breakfast and washing his hands before going back to work.

On break, Sam went to go make sure the angels were okay and saw that Chuck was working on Castiel again, fixing the cuts in his face with a gel. Castiel sat there, watching the man curiously and going cross-eyed every now and again in an attempt to see what was going on. The wounds sealed up after the gel was applied and Castiel looked brand new again.

"Morning, guys." Sam said softly, announcing his presence. Gabriel looked up from the corner, smiling widely. He was still plugged in and charging, but at least he was moving again.

"Hey, Sam." He replied, flipping through a magazine.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as Gabriel shrugged.

"I'm feeling great. Well rested. So I heard you guys had a scare this morning." He smirked, not remembering anything that happened after he went to sleep. Sam shook his head at that, sighing as he sat down beside Gabriel.

"I thought you guys were broken for sure. It would have been so horrible if we actually ruined you guys in the first few days." He murmured as Gabriel snickered.

"Yeah, that wouldn't have been pleasant. Don't worry, I think we're a little more durable than that though." He stated, patting Sam on the head.

Sam smiled at that, happy to see that he was completely back to normal. He liked having Gabriel around, it made his life interesting. "I think Dean was the most worried though. He was freaking out when he saw you were bleeding." He pointed out to Castiel. Castiel looked over over him, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Was he really?" He asked, sounding really surprised. He didn't think that Dean had taken to him that much.

Before Sam could respond, the door opened and Dean walked inside, looking over the group before going to Castiel's side.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, seeing that there were little traces of what had happened that morning on him.

"Better now. It wasn't pleasant when I woke up though, it still was hurting." Castiel said softly, looking over Dean before he stared into his eyes. "You were worried about me?"

Dean frowned at that, wondering who said that. He glanced over at Sam, glaring at him for a moment before he looked back at Castiel. "Well, yeah. It wouldn't have been good if we broke the testing equipment in the first few days." He stated.

Castiel's shoulders sagged a little and he looked a little down at that. He was hoping that Dean was caring more that he was in danger instead of getting in trouble from the company. "I see." He said softly.

Dean didn't seem to notice the change, looking back at Chuck. "So they'll be good to take home in a little while?"

"Yeah, they're pretty much back to full charge. And Castiel is pretty much done with repairs."

"Have you been working here all night?" Sam asked, hoping that they weren't stressing the smaller man too much.

"Nah, I went home for a little while and got some sleep after I stopped Castiel's bleeding."

"That's good. I don't want you to overexhaust yourself over our mistakes." He said softly.

"Don't worry about it. The first few days we were nearly finished with these two, I was pulling constant all-nighters. It's nothing new." Chuck shrugged, sealing up the final cuts on Castiel's chest.

"So nothing serious was hit?" Dean asked, seeing the skin patching back together.

"No, the glass missed everything so we didn't have to fix any of his internal wiring."

"That's great, I'm glad the table gave him minimal damage. Just wish I could say that for the table." Dean replied.

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows, feeling bad about that. "I apologize, Dean. I didn't think that my battery had drained that much. Perhaps I can try to fix it?" Dean shook his head at that, snorting in amusement.

"Don't worry about it, Cas. It's in a thousand pieces so we tossed it out and ordered a new one. It's fine." Castiel nodded at that, still feeling bad for wrecking parts of their home.

"There's nothing to worry about. It's done and it was an accident. Just don't make a habit of breaking things, alright?" Dean asked, trying to lighten him up.

Castiel nodded again, taking it completely seriously. "Yes, Dean. I will try to be more careful." Dean shook his head, patting Castiel's shoulder.

"You're hopeless." He said softly, looking back at Sam and the other android. Gabriel had gone back to reading, making Sam useful by moving his legs over Sam's to make his seat more comfortable.

"I don't think I have lost hope, Dean. There is still a lot that I have." He was caught off guard by Castiel's response and looked back at him to see if he was being serious.

"No, I don't mean that you don't have hope, I mean that...Ugh, never mind." He sighed, unable to believe how seriously he was taking everything. Castiel cocked his head, staring at him in confusion. Dean almost wondered if head tilting helped Castiel understand things anymore. Maybe someone told him that seeing things at a different angle would help him and Castiel took that advice completely to heart.

Dean realized, at this rate, he wouldn't even be surprised at all if that was in fact the case.


	3. Chapter 3

In the middle of the first week, just after getting Castiel and Gabriel repaired, Castiel learned a new word.

After the coffee table scare, Sam and Dean made sure that they plugged Gabriel and Castiel in at night. Dean asked Chuck why in the hell they didn't just plug themselves into the wall in the first place. Chuck shrugged and told him that they weren't quite that self-efficient yet and sort of pushed that thought aside whenever they were in a new place. Thus, that added into his quick addition about how this wasn't the first time it happened.

Well, when Dean went to sleep that night, he didn't expect waking up to Castiel sitting less than a few feet from his bed, staring at him at two in the morning. At first he wondered if he was dreaming, but then came Castiel's 'Hello, Dean'. 

"Fuck!" He shouted, jolting backwards and off of his bed. He groaned, rubbing his head as he turned the light on his end table on.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to startle you." Castiel said in the same tone, watching the human curiously.

"Ugh, I thought you were supposed to be asleep." Dean yawned, glancing at his clock before cursing under his breath.

"I don't require sleep." Castiel replied simply, cocking his head.

"Yeah, you sure coulda fooled me." Dean murmured under his breath. "Okay, ground rules. If you're gonna do your creepy robot stare in the middle of the night, either do it facing a mirror or any way that doesn't have this repeat itself at some point, okay? And second? Personal space, Cas. I don't need you breathing on my face when I sleep." He didn't even know why Castiel looked puzzled at that last part. "What's wrong?"

"I don't require breathing." He said softly, furrowing his eyebrows as he watched Dean. He looked over him curiously, as if he was searching for answers that he thought Dean may have.

Dean groaned in frustration, moving to lay down and bury his face in his pillow. It was way too damn early for this shit. "Go to bed, Castiel. Don't you have a sleep mode or something?"

"Of course I do, Dean. All of us have that function." Dean was so done with this entire conversation, just wanting to go back to sleep.

"Okay, we are laying out more rules at a normal time in the damn morning, I'm not anywhere near awake enough to deal with this. Go in sleep mode and we'll talk later." He stated impatiently, scowling tiredly at Castiel. Castiel stared back at him and Dean wondered if he was just testing him somehow and all of this was on purpose. So far that was what the other android in the house seemed to get a kick out of, so perhaps Castiel was the same in that aspect.

"Alright, Dean. I understand. I apologize for waking you." He finally spoke up, moving to lay on the floor so he could stay close to the plug.

"Do ya want pillows or somethin'?" Dean asked, knowing the floor wasn't exactly the most comfortable place in the house.

"No thank you." Castiel said softly.

Dean frowned slightly at that, tossing his extra pillows at Castiel's head. "Bullshit. It's not good on your back to just lay like that for hours."

"My spine is actually quite flexible, but thank you for your concern." Well that was a story Dean was going to have to remember asking about when he was completely coherent and well rested.

"Alright, now go to bed." He mumbled, turning the lights off and moving his arms around his pillow to stay comfortable. 

Right when Dean was nearly back in dreamland, Castiel's voice broke the silence.

"Dean, I have a question." He asked softly.

"Hm?" Dean didn't feel like talking, nearly to his dreams so he wanted to make this conversation quick.

"What exactly does the word 'fuck' mean? I don't seem to have that word in my vocabulary." Dean groaned in frustration for what felt like the hundredth time in five minutes. Oh my god, the android couldn't be serious. That settled it, Castiel was obviously messing with him. There was no other way to look at this.

"Go to sleep, Castiel." He said a bit sharper, his voice rough with the sleep he was trying so hard to get.

 

In the afternoon, Castiel discovered that is when Dean was always in a better mood. That was one way Dean was different than Chuck. When Chuck was awake late at night, despite being tired, he would answer Castiel's questions calmly. 

Dean and Sam had a day off so Castiel stayed beside Dean, watching and learning from Dean, since that is what he was here for in the first place. Dean worked around the house and Castiel heard more of Dean's interesting words. 'Fuck' and 'Son of a Bitch' seemed to be his favorite phrases so far. "Fuck." Castiel heard Dean hiss that when he burned his hand on the pan making himself breakfast. 'Son of a bitch.' He would use that one when he couldn't find a right part needed for putting the new coffee table together. Castiel wanted to ask about all these phrases but was worried that Dean would just put him in sleep mode. So he began doing quieter things, like counting the freckles on Dean's face.

12...43....112....

When he got close enough and turned his head, azure eyes completely focused in on Dean and cocking his head to see the different angles of his face, Dean stared at him, furrowing his eyebrows. He wondered just what the hell Castiel was trying to do. Castiel glanced up at his eyes, completely forgetting about the freckles and decided to count the colors in Dean's eyes instead. At least for a while this time, Dean stayed still, staring back at him. Castiel wondered if Dean was trying to count the colors in his eyes too. He wondered how many he even had in the first place. Maybe later, he would do what Dean said and stare into a mirror so that he could find out himself.

 

Sam on the other hand was more of an early riser, waking as the sun rose so that he could go on a run and get a good work out in to help him stay energized for the day. He was of course surprised to wake up to Gabriel in his bed, the android still in sleep mode. Sam noticed he had small white buds in his ears and realized that they were the ones used for listening to music. He watched Gabriel, seeing that he was completely asleep before he carefully took one out in his curiosity, holding it to his own ear so he could see if anything was playing. It was very relaxing music, a light thudding in in the background. Sam felt a bit more relaxed as he continued to listen before he replaced it back in Gabriel's ear. He was going to have to ask about that later. He got out of bed and pulled the blankets up to Gabriel's shoulder, not going to wake him up yet.

When Sam returned, Gabriel was still dead to the world. Sam wondered his this was normal, moving the sheets so he could look at him better. Well, he was still breathing at least. He shook his head, going to go grab some clothes before going to take a shower. Seeing that Gabriel was still wearing the white scrubs made him realize that they should probably take them out and get them some other clothes. If they took them out in public outside of the company dressed like that, people would probably think that they were escapees from a mental asylum or something. In all fairness, they both were a bit spacey when it came to new things. It was a little hard for Sam to forget just how infatuated they had been with the world outside the first day that they had been taken into the Winchester. He almost wondered how bad it would be to take them to the mall considering there was just about endless things for them to look at and who knew how long that could take? When Dean and Sam were given Castiel and Gabriel for testing, they didn't realize that the company would be giving them an allowance. 

Dean had nearly died when there was a check for an extra twelve grand in the Winchester household funds. He thought it had been an error since he wasn't due for a pay raise, especially of that size, but when he called in about it, it turned out that it definitely was not an error and that they would keep getting this checks every so often as the testing continued. Perhaps this Angel project had some use after all?

Sam didn't mind the extra money, since it would make things easier to buy equipment or tools for if anything happened to the androids, or just anything at all that would help in their development. Like clothing. Sam watched Gabriel for a bit longer before he began shaking him awake. Gabriel groaned and rolled onto his other side so he was facing away from Sam. Sam couldn't help but smile at how human that gesture was and continued to shake him in an attempt to get him out of bed. The second time Gabriel opened his eyes and looked up at Sam, furrowing his eyebrows before he began rubbing his eyes. “Whadaya want?” He asked with a yawn, slowly getting himself out of his sleep mode.

“We're gonna go shopping for you to get some clothes and whatever else you want.” Sam explained softly as Gabriel looked up at him, running his fingers through his messy hair.

“And?”

“What do you mean and? We can't exactly go clothes shopping if you're not there.” Gabriel raised an eyebrow, cocking his head.

“You technically could.”

“Yeah, but then you'd have to deal with what I'd pick out for you.”

“And you'd pick out something terrible?” Gabriel asked, his normal grin slowly making its way onto his face.

“Just to spite you, yes.” Sam nodded, liking to see him smiling. “You said that you were sick of wearing white and I could just buy you everything in white.”

Gabriel pondered it for a moment before nodding a little. “Alright, you got me. I guess I have to go to make sure that there's at least some coloring in my clothing choice.”  
Sam nodded at that, patting his back. “We'll head out in a little bit.”

Sam was right when he had guessed that Castiel and Gabriel would be into everything around them at the mall. Castiel wanted to look at all of the technology that each store had and Dean kept track of him while Sam tried to pull Gabriel out of the candy store. That proved to be a Herculean task for the tall male since he had to promise Gabriel that they would come back to the store and still had to drag him out of the store. The smaller android was just completely amazed by the amount of candy and assortment of it. Sam almost wondered if they could spend the entire allowance on candy for someone who didn't even need to eat.  
Castiel on the other hand would ask Dean questions every now and again, staring at some of the moving mannequins in the windows of lingerie and clothing stores.

“Are you made from the same stuff?” Dean asked as Castiel stared at one of the mannequins displaying some lacy black underwear.

“My skin is mostly made out of a mixture of plastics, so I guess we are sort of the same.” He said with a shrug as he looked up at him curiously, smiling a little at him before he looked back at the model. “How important is the type of underwear someone wears to you?”

“It depends, sometimes it's pretty damn nice and sometimes it doesn't work.” Dean stated, tugging Castiel away from the mannequin so that he could get him to a normal store so that they could get some clothes and get out of here before something else distracted Castiel's attention for another twenty minutes.

Actually clothes shopping for Castiel didn't take too long since he wasn't picky and just sort of accepted everything that Dean would hand him. Gabriel on the other hand had a kick out of messing with Sam and making everything hard on him. Every time Sam tried to show Gabriel something he thought would work, Gabriel would smile and say 'No' until he put it away, just to get it out and add it to the pile of clothes that they were buying. When they were about to ring up, something caught Castiel's attention and he wandered away from Dean. Dean furrowed his eyebrows and followed him, wondering where he was going now. Castiel stopped at a rack of coats, gently tugging at the sleeve of a trench coat. He looked really focused as he stared at it, rubbing circles into it with his thumb.

“Cas?” Castiel looked up at Dean, blinking slowly. 

“Mm?” He asked, not letting go of the coat.

“Do you want this?” Dean asked curiously, getting it off of the rack. Castiel slowly took it from him, trying it on for size. “It's pretty big on you. Do you want to look at another size?” Castiel shook his head at that.

“No, it's okay...I like it this way.” He said softly, tugging at the lapels of the coat for a moment. “It's very comfortable.”

“Alright, take it off and we'll go buy it.” Castiel nodded and took it off before handing it to Dean.

The moment the clothes were paid for, Castiel put the coat back on, liking how comfortable it was. As promised, Sam led Gabriel pack to the candy shop, going to let him pick out a few bags of whatever he wanted. That didn't take as long as Sam thought it would since Gabriel put just about everything into sorted bags, gummy candies in one, fruity candies, and then chocolates before they paid up and left. Sam hoped that would at least keep him content for a while since he didn't think that Gabriel would be able to eat all of it in a day or two. Gabriel would of course prove him wrong on that matter, since no one should underestimate just what he was capable of.


	4. Driving Lessons and Photographs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you guys were wondering, the song Gabriel listens to when he sleeps is an actual song. It's called 'Weightless' by Macaroni Union, and it's supposed to scientifically be the most relaxing song for you. Check it out, it's actually pretty interesting! Thank you all for the support I've gotten so far and hopefully I can keep you interested!

When Sam got home from the mall outing with the Angel projects, he decided he may as well look through the manual that Chuck had given them. He kept track of each little note, putting a tab on each page that had something they would either need to worry about more or something that the Angel projects did just about every day. He slowly got to the part about the their sleep mode and began reading through the section.

'When in sleep mode, you may notice that they are usually listening to music. There is actually one song that they listen to and it helps in their relaxation. The slow BPM of the music causes their heart to stay at a relaxed pace and help with their dreaming process. I know what you're thinking and yes, they are known to have dreams on occasion which are mostly based on their environments. The relaxing music also helps in the lowering for a chance of them having nightmares. As long as they are in a happy and healthy environment, you shouldn't really have to worry about one of these. But....IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: Contact Chuck Shurley IMMEDIATELY. Sometimes their nightmares can get violent and there is a chance that their software will try shutting itself down or they can malfunction or even damage themselves. What to do in case of a typical nightmare: If your Angel beta is experiencing a normal nightmare, slowly wake him up and get him out of his dream. Make him feel calm again until his heart is once again at a steady rate. (Using relaxation music works best) Watch over him for several minutes once he falls asleep again. If no more nightmares arise, you are all set. If nightmare ensues, repeat process.' Sam found it strange, yet amazing at how advanced androids were becoming each time a new line of them came out. They had their rare instances when one could tell there was something off about them, but other than that they came across as completely human.

"Whatcha doin', Sammy?" Sam looked up to see Gabriel perched on the side of the couch, trying to see what he was up to.

"Just trying to learn more about about you guys." He replied, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced back at the book.

"You are obsessed with us, aren't you? It kind of makes me feel special." Gabriel said with a wide smile, taking the book from him and flipping through it. "So you're not gonna ask me questions anymore? Didn't like my answers?"

"No, I do, I was just putting a tab on everything that can help us understand you more and help us out when you break down or anything goes wrong." Gabriel nodded, not paying attention before he stopped on a page and smiled widely. Well, this was a completely interesting subject to bring up to Sam that would get an amazing reaction from the taller, and technically older, man.

"So...Sam...” He started, not looking up from the page. “Did you know you can have sex with us?" He asked, causing Sam to sputter a little from how blunt he was being.

"Excuse me?" The human asked in his sheer bewilderment, trying to stop his face from heating up.

"You heard me. We have all the capabilities for it. Just keep that in mind if you're ever bored." Gabriel replied with a grin. He liked seeing Sam's face heat up almost as much as he loved getting a reaction out of him. He learned that teasing the human had its perks and always promised much entertainment.

"Okay...I'll try to keep that in mind." Sam mumbled, taking the book from him.

"You really should keep it in mind." The android chuckled, climbing off of the couch so that he could go and find something else to do. Going through Sam's things seemed like the option with the highest probability of enjoyment, so that's what he went to go busy himself with. If he just so happened to make a mess of his room while doing so, he could just say that it was on accident.

Castiel was in the garage, watching Dean work on his car. The model of the vehicle was an older one, Dean said that it had been built in 2067. It was still completely functional though and Castiel liked its charm. 

"If you don't mind my asking, why don't you use a newer car?" Castiel asked, watching Dean tune the car up.

"It was my Dad's." He said with a shrug. "I grew up riding in this car and so I'd rather keep her up."

Castiel nodded, moving beside Dean so he could peer inside. "I can respect that, she is a fine piece of machinery and she is in very good shape." He said softly before going and sitting down again so he could watch Dean better. “How long as she been yours?” He asked after a while of silence between the both of them.

“About six years now. My dad didn't drive her anymore so he gave her to me. I don't wanna think about what would've happened if she just sat there and rusted for year.” Dean mumbled, glad that his dad had kept her in immaculate shape. Maybe that's where he got it from. That and he would rather keep his father proud of the work that he had been keeping up on her.

“So, do you know how to drive? Is that something already in your...programming?” Dean asked, glancing back at him.

“No, I do not seem to.” Castiel admitted, looking back up at him curiously after a moment of thought.

Well, they were supposed to be teaching the androids things so it couldn't hurt. “Do you want to learn?”

Castiel stared at him for a moment, thinking about what he was offering. “You would really teach me?” He asked with a smile.

“If you wanna learn. You never know, it may be useful for you in the future or something.” Dean said with a shrug, finishing up before he closed the hood of the car. “Let's go now while it's still really light out. I'll show you how to work the controls and then we'll go from there.” Castiel jumped to his feet, completely excited that he was going to learn something new from Dean. He climbed into the passenger seat, watching everything that the human would do to make sure that he could exceed any expectations that the human could have towards his learning skills.

Dean was actually more than a little relieved that Castiel was a pretty good and quick learner. He explained how to work the main controls of the car and showed him how he drove the car before he let Castiel try it out. At first it was going by really slowly as he tried to get used to everything. He found he enjoyed watching Castiel learning, liking how focused he would get. Castiel's azure eyes were filled with sheer concentration as well as the determination to do a good job. It was times like that moment where Dean would forget that he was made from plastics and metal. He just seemed so human with his level of expressing himself and how he was learning to communicate. Dean remembered the first time that he had seen one of the first line of androids.

One of the first projects that the Angelis Corporation released to the public had been a beautiful red-headed android that went by the name of Anael. When she was first created, she had very little emotion and only based every decision on cold logic. Naturally, Hunters would use her for help finding cases and jobs that needed to be completed. They still used the android even now to keep running through all the happenings in the city, but another line of her had come out for the use of the public. That line was way more nurturing, with a much wider range of emotions as well, so naturally she was mostly seen being used in schools or hospitals, wherever she could be surrounded by children.

Even then he didn't think that they would eventually get to the point where there was Gabriel and Castiel, two very different androids but both with very different and dynamic personalities. Dean found it harder to remember that they were testing the androids and it just felt like they were keeping two guys as temporary housemates. Perhaps that was the whole point of the Angel project. It was interesting to see just how far they all could come. Of course there was the opposite line that other companies would release that were known as Demons. 

Demons were the sort of androids were mostly seen in certain places that people would like to call 'The Red light' districts. Dean had seen many demons in his days that had gone haywire and needed to be shut down quickly before they would become more of a threat.

Dean was just glad that there was naturally a complete difference between the Angels and Demons since he actually found more of the Angels more enjoyable to be around. Well, some of the androids walking around we're complete dicks and nothing more, but at least Castiel and Gabriel were pretty much human. They didn't do that whole 'Yes, Mr. So and So' thing that the other lines would constantly do over and over again.

Dean didn't realize he was spacing out until he finally heard Castiel calling his name. "What?" He asked, looking back up at him. 

"Are you alright?" He asked curiously, having parked the car back in the driveway.

"Yeah, just thinking. You did a great job though, I'm actually kind of surprised. Then again, you aren't human...." Dean trailed off with a shrug before he patted Castiel's back. "Good job." He added as he got out of the car.

Castiel couldn't help but smile a little, happy that Dean was impressed with how he did.

"Are you and Gabriel enjoying it here?" Dean asked, glancing over at him.

"Of course we are. We are already leaning a lot of things from you and Sam. There's nothing more than we could ever ask for since I believe we are exceeding the company's expectations with you and your brother's help." He explained honestly, giving Dean his car keys back. "Personality wise, we all go together and blend well. I think you being more extroverted and very strong welled goes well with my own personality, as does Sam and Gabriel's. I believe they added these factors into the raffle and this is one reason why you were chosen."

Dean wasn't expecting that deep of an answer and had to take a moment to just stare at him. Here he thought he couldn't be amazed by the amount of work in this android any more than he was, but Castiel seemed to have a habit of breaking that thought. 

"Well, I'm glad that you like learning from us." He replied, feeling a little warmed by his words. "Since you can technically drive now, you're gonna be adding how to take care of cars to the list of your skills." He stated as he lead him inside.

"I'm looking forward to it, Dean." He said softly before he went to go see what his brother unit and Sam were up to.

 

Sam had cleaned his room after Gabriel threw his clothes all over the place, trying to get the android's destructive behavior to lessen. He was just glad that he knew now, if the chance were ever to arise, that he should never leave Gabriel home alone with a pair of scissors. Even with that, he almost was worried of what could happen if Gabriel got bored enough that he would give Sam's hair and the tools a secret play date while he slept. He let the snickering android charge on his bed while he cleaned his room since Gabriel decided to be of no help while Sam cleaned up the room.

“So, tell me Sam. Have you always been part tree?” Gabriel asked curiously, comparing his size to everything in the room.

“What are you talking about?” Sam asked, not looking back at him as he continued to fold his clothes or hang them back up.

“Well, considering you're almost a foot taller than me, I'm just wondering if you've always just been freakishly huge.”

“I'm not that big, Gabriel.” Sam replied, glancing back at him with an expression on his face that Dean could only classify as a 'bitch face'.

“Yeah you are. You're kind of like a giraffe because you just tower over everyone. I don't have to worry about ever losing you in a crowd.” Gabriel teased, the grin on his face growing wider.

Sam shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly before he looked back at him. “Why? Do you wanna see what I was like when I was a kid or something?” He asked with a smile.

“Well, I wouldn't exactly mind that a bit.” Gabriel admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

Sam thought about where he had put their family album and soon moved to motion for Gabriel to follow him to the living room. Gabriel followed, thankfully without question this time. He plopped himself down on the couch and sat cross-legged while he waited for Sam to find whatever he was looking for.

“There we go.” Sam murmured to himself when he finally found what he was looking for. He sat down beside Gabriel so he could begin showing him the images that had filled the album's pages.

 

Sam showed Gabriel all of the photo albums from his and Dean's childhood, the moving pictures showing each memory with Mary's handwriting underneath. Gabriel smiled at the pictures of Sam and Dean, loving how cute the little brat was.

"I guess you were pretty cute, for an infant." He said softly, nudging Sam with his elbow. Sam smiled at that and shook his head as Castiel leaned forwards to look at them as well when he had figured out what they were doing. "There's baby Dean too." Castiel smiled at the picture, watching the infant hold his feet and roll side to side in his crib.

"Can we see a picture of your parents?" He finally asked curiously, wanting to a put a face to the creators of the Winchesters.

"Yeah, hold on, just let me find a picture." Sam said softly before he began flipping through the book. He soon found a good one and showed it to the androids. It was of Sam's graduation, Mary and John were standing on either side of Sam and Dean was on John's other side. They were all laughing and waving at the camera. He didn't hear a reaction from the androids and glanced up at them before he paused. Castiel and Gabriel were staring at the album, tensed up and unmoving. Sam waved his hand in front of their faces and got zero response. Oh fuck, this really wasn't good. He quickly got to his feet, running to the garage to find Dean.

"Dean, there's something wrong with Cas and Gabe!" He exclaimed, completely worried about the androids. He didn't understand just what was going on with them.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me!" Dean groaned as he followed Sam, quickly going to Castiel's side as he tried to get him to respond. Castiel just stared off into space, azure eyes wide yet unblinking. Dean shook Castiel's shoulders, only causing his head to jerk back and forth and gaining zero response. "Call Chuck." He ordered his brother, completely worried about Castiel. It was so unnatural to see him this way. It was almost as if he was simply a life sized doll.

Sam nodded and phoned Chuck, watching as Dean tried to get Castiel to snap out of it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Chuck. This is Sam Winchester. There's something wrong with the Angels. They just froze up and won't move."

"What exactly were you doing when they froze up?" Chuck asked, wanting to know every detail of what could have caused them to crash.

"We were looking at old family albums when they just froze up." Chuck thought about what could have even triggered the before he finally realized it and sighed. He knew this was going to happen at some point.

"Okay, Sam, what I need you to do is put them in sleep mode manually. Get to the back of their necks and right where the curve of their skull begins, press right in the middle until they go into sleep mode. Then just wake them up normally in a few minutes and they'll be fine." He replied before hanging up.

"Alright, Dean we just need to shut them down." Sam stated, going behind Gabriel and pushing him forwards until his neck was exposed. "Pressing here manually puts them in sleep mode." He instructed, pressing his thumb against where Chuck had told him to. Gabriel powered down and went completely limp. Sam maneuvered him back to rest against the couch, watching as Dean put Castiel to sleep.

“Now what are we supposed to do? Let them have a little nap? What are we gonna do if they don't wake up?” Dean asked, trying to keep his cool. At the moment, he really didn't care if Castiel though that they were a good match for the testing period if they've already broken them twice.

“Then we'll have to take them back to the lab so we can figure out what's going on.” Sam replied simply, really not wanting anything to happen to the prototypes. “We just need to wait a few minutes before we turn them back on and they should be fully alright again.”

“Yeah, well they better be.” Dean stated, watching Castiel's face. He really hoped that he would be able to wake him up again and that they didn't just permanently put them both to sleep.

The next few minutes passed excruciatingly slowly before Dean began shaking Castiel to wake him up. At first, Castiel didn't give much of a response before he finally slowly opened his eyes. He closed them again, making a small noise.

“Did we fall asleep?” He asked curiously, yawning lightly as he rubbed his eyes again. Dean sighed in relief, able to let a breath out that he had been holding in his anticipation.

“Yeah, you fell asleep.” He said softly, patting his head.

He glanced over at Sam and Gabriel, seeing that he had gotten Gabriel to wake up. He sighed again in his relief, so happy that they weren't broken. He didn't even want to think about how much it would cost to replace the parts for something that wasn't even on the market.

“Do you feel strange at all?” He asked softly as he moved to sit beside Castiel. He stared him into the eyes, going to completely make sure that he was alright. Sam would probably call it his 'motherly instincts to kick in, but then Dean could just settle it by telling him how much of a bitch he was.

“I feel perfectly fine. Why do you ask?” He asked curiously, cocking his head and looking him over curiously.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding why he didn't say anything about freezing up. Weird... He ignored that, looking him over to make sure that no smoke was coming from his ears and that nothing was sparking. He didn't want to risk Castiel's face melting or even him setting on fire. That was the last thing that they would need right now.

Castiel stared back at Dean as he was examined, furrowing his eyebrows and cocking his head. He didn't understand why he was looking over him so intensely, but he wasn't going to question it once he noticed all the worry on his face. Dean wasn't hiding it nearly as well as he thought it was and when Sam saw it, he shook his head before making sure that Gabriel was okay. Neither android seemed to remember freezing up or that they had even been looking over a certain picture.

Sam couldn't help himself from wondering a lot about that. Castiel and Gabriel were perfectly fine when it came to the pictures of Sam and Dean, so why did the first picture that they showed them with other people set them off? He'd have to ask Chuck about that the next time he saw that since he couldn't get that thought off of his mind. He almost wanted to try showing them the photographs again as an experiment, but he didn't want to risk breaking them and being unable to wake them up.

He watched as Gabriel and Castiel decided to watch some television, wondering if there was a lot more to the androids that he and Dean couldn't quite understand just yet.


	5. Watcher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I've been moving all month and hadn't had the chance to actually just go back and write the chapter. Hopefully the next one will be out again quickly, and thank you all for keeping patient with me! Hopefully I will be able to keep them coming quickly!

Over the next few days after the androids' freezing incident, Sam and Dean decided that it would be best to keep them with Chuck while they worked to keep an eye on them. Chuck found no lingering damage from it and was happy about that to say the least. He didn't want anything to happen to them when they hadn't been up and running for so long.

Despite Chuck's care over the projects, the brothers couldn't help but notice that Castiel and Gabriel seemed a little bored. It wasn't that they didn't like spending time with Chuck, it was just that they spent so much time in this place and didn't really ever get to see much of the outside world. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for them to go out and explore just this once. With much careful preparation, the brothers let the angels out to go explore the city. They were given cell phones and numbers to call for if anything went wrong, as well as some of their allowance from the company.

The androids mapped out the area they would be in, writing down addresses of the main places that they would be. They mostly just did it to put Sam and Dean at a little more ease since this would be their first time getting out. Either way, Dean was going to spend most of the day listening to the dispatch angels to make sure that they didn't get in trouble or that anything bad happened to them on their little excursion.

The main place that Castiel wanted to go to was to the book store so that he would have something to busy himself with when they were home and the Winchester brothers would be at work.

Castiel looked through the different book sections, trying to find some interesting ones that he could take home. He slowly grabbed more and more books, resting them against his chest each time he went to a new section.

Gabriel busied himself with Starbucks and magazines, sitting down at the table while he watched Castiel try to narrow his selection down from the stacks of books he had placed on the table.

“Are you guys new?” The androids glanced up at the new voice, seeing a tall and slender blonde man leaning against the railing beside their table. 

“We are technically new to this city, yes.”

"No, I meant are you guys new products?" The man asked, resting his cheek on his palm as he watched the two.

Castiel tried to think of what to say since they weren't really supposed to say that they were new models, especially to strangers.

"Don't look so tense, I know how it goes." The man rolled the sleeve of his black jacket down a little to show he had a bracelet around his wrist. "The name's Balthazar. I'm a lover unit. So what are your names?" He asked, looking over the two new androids. He was trying to estimate just how new androids were and what kind of units they were.

"I'm Gabriel and this is Castiel. We're a new project that's just starting out." Gabriel introduced, happy to see that there were others out there like them.

"So what exactly does being a lover unit entail?" Castiel asked curiously, just wondering what all he got to do besides the obvious task of having sex.

"Mostly just taking care of my owner and helping them out." He said with a shrug. "They buy us for a reason so we need to take care of them however we can." He added. "So what are you guys anyways? Lover units or service ones?"

"We're not really either." Gabriel stated, leaning back in his chair. He wasn't sure what to tell him since they really weren't either of the two. "I guess we are just mostly for companionship." He said with a slight shrug.

"That makes sense." The lover unit stated as he moved to sit beside the two other androids.

"Between us, we aren't the full products that will be going on the market, so our main purpose is supposed to be taking everything in and learning from the humans that we are staying with." Castiel explained briefly, figuring he could trust this man since he was another android.

Balthazar nodded at that, smiling widely. "If you guys ever need to learn anything special, come and see me. I'm usually out and about during the day, and you two seem like you aren't the boring old stiffs I'm used to seeing around here." He replied, happy to find some androids that he could actually carry on a normal conversation with. He was just so tired of the old ones that would just drone on and on about their missions or something else that would completely bore the lover unit. It was always the worst with that damn mail carrier bot that would come to his owner's house. He would make the mistake of saying 'Nice day, huh?' as light conversation, only to get an entire and completely detailed weather report for the week in various places on the globe. He didn't give a damn that in China it was seventy degrees at this very moment, he just wanted the robot to kindly shut the fuck up and give him his damn mail so he could carry on with his day. 

He may have slammed the door in its face once or twice to see what it would do, but the damn thing continued talking for a good minute and a half before it would finally carry on with its day. The fact of the matter was, it could be more than a little tiring to try and communicate with non-humans sometimes.

"Are there any other Angel projects that you know of?" Castiel asked the blonde curiously, wondering how many of them he could be able to meet.

"Um, I've met a few in my life. Sometimes you'll see them at parties or somewhere on the street. Some of them are a little dry in personality. It's the Demons you really gotta watch out for though. They're sneaky little bastards and they'll do whatever they can to get what they want out of you. By the way, don't ever let one see your wallet." He grimaced, recalling a curvy blonde one that had managed to sneak off with all of his allowance that had been in his wallet. He hoped that she fell into a ditch and malfunctioned after whatever kind of shopping spree she went on with his money. "Pretty much, if you want to stay safe, just avoid them completely." He added after pondering it over again.

"Alright, we'll keep that in mind." Gabriel snickered, shaking his head. He kind of liked this guy already. It'd be nice to have a friend so that he and Castiel could get out more and get to know their surroundings.

Balthazar began writing on a napkin before turning it and smiling. “I need to be going, but that's my number for if you guys ever get bored and want to get out. I can take you to all the best night clubs that this place has to offer.”

“Sounds good, it'd be really cool to get out and have some fun.” Gabriel replied with a smile as he took it and put it in his pocket.

“Alright, have fun with the rest of your day, but not too much.” Balthazar winked at the two before he headed out.

“I like him, he's interesting.” Gabriel said with a wide smile as he watched him go.

“Yes, he does have a very interesting charm to him.” Castiel agreed.

The androids spent a bit longer in the bookstore to get more books for Castiel to entertain himself at home with before they went out to go do more wandering around the area. Before they could leave the bookstore, Castiel's phone rang for the first time.

"Which one of them is calling you already?" Gabriel asked curiously, glancing over at him as the darker haired android looked down at the phone.

"It's Dean." He replied before he answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Cas. It's almost time for Sam and I to go on lunch break, do you want to meet up with us somewhere?"

"Gabriel and I don't require sustenance." He stated, wondering why Dean hadn't seemed to realize this just yet.

"Speak for yourself." Gabriel retorted, shaking his head.

"Yes, Cas, I understand that. Just because you don't need it doesn't mean that you can't have it. Do you want to meet us or not?"

"Yes, that sounds fine. I'm sure Gabriel would like to find something to eat. Where would you like to go?"

"There's a Big Gerson's on the corner of Windle and Ninth Street. We'll probably be there in about forty-five minutes, so don't worry about getting there too fast." Dean replied, having checked the GPS on Castiel's phone to make sure that they didn't get too far. 

He wasn't being overprotective no matter what Sam said, he just didn't want to wind up on the bad side of the company's higher ups for losing two very valuable assets.

"Alright, we will see you there." Castiel replied, keeping track of the address for when they needed to head over. When he hung up, he took in how much time they had and how long it would take to get there. The restaurant turned out to be in walking distance anyways, so it made everything a little easier.

"We should be able to continue looking at things for another half an hour." He said softly to Gabriel after calculating the time it would take to look in a few more stores before going down a few blocks.

"Sounds good to me. Also, you gotta loosen up a little. We're supposed to be learning more human behaviors and that whole 'we don't require sustenance' thing you've got going on is gonna set you back. Now, since you don't taste things very often, I recommend that you start doing that as much as you can because tasting all the different edible things out there is probably one of life's greatest pleasures." 

"I don't think that's one of them, Gabriel."

"Well, how would you know? You don't eat anything. Why do you think there are so many chefs in the world? There are endless mixtures of ingredients that someone with the right knowledge and tools can use to create amazing things."

"That is true if you look at it that way, I guess." He said softly.

"Good, now you are going to try more things, right?" Gabriel asked, smiling widely as Castiel nodded.

"It couldn't hurt."

"Damn right it couldn't, now let's check out a few places."Gabriel grinned at him before carrying on his way to find more stores that they could go there before they would need to meet up with Sam and Dean.

 

They of course had to stop in a candy store since there were different kinds that Gabriel hadn't tried but really had wanted to. Castiel left the store ahead of him, wanting to see what else was around them when he accidentally ran right into someone.

“I apologize, Sir.” He said quickly, looking up and meeting the cold star of a slender, statuesque man. The dark haired man looked over him for a moment before he smiled eerily at him, taking the android's chin between his index finger and thumb.

“Don't worry yourself so much, Angel. You just need to learn to watch where you are going.”

The man eyed Castiel carefully, glancing down at the bracelet around the android's wrist. He smiled and hummed in content before glancing back up at Castiel's azure colored eyes. "Don't worry about it, angel, anyone can have an accident. You just need to pay more attention next time."

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the man, wondering what he should do. Gabriel soon came out and frowned when he saw the creep touching Castiel.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The man glanced over at Gabriel before smiling wider. This just made things all the more interesting.

"Nothing, I was just making sure that he is fine after his small act of clumsiness." The man replied with a shrug. Gabriel's frown deepened at that, not liking this man's presence. There was just something really off about him. 

"Well, it looks like you've done that already, so your business here with my brother should be done." He stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, little one, you never know what could knock you back." The stranger stated before he looked back at Castiel.

"It looks like I'll see you later then, Angel." He smiled at Castiel, casting a smug look at Gabriel before he took his leave.

"What the hell was that?" Gabriel questioned Castiel, watching the guy go with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't have a clue. I accidentally bumped into him, and then he started talking strangely and touching me."

"Okay, do me a favor, Castiel. Hands in your pockets, eyes forwards, don't talk to any more strangers." Gabriel instructed after Castiel listened to the first step.

"Well, I didn't know that was what would happen. In all fairness, some of the people here are very strange." The taller android replied, still a little confused from everything. He wondered if the man knew what they were, or if he just liked using the term 'angel' as a pet name.

"Well, you know what, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought he would have eaten you if I hadn't stepped in."

"Don't be ridiculous, Gabriel." Castiel replied. "We are made out of plastics and metal, he would not have been able to get very far."

Gabriel had to stare at his brother for a second. He wondered if Castiel just wasn't installed with any software for humor or if he would ever be able to acquire the ability to understand jokes. Well, at least Castiel had his looks.

"Yeah...Let's just keep walking." He motioned for Castiel to follow him as he continued to look for things.

The man watched the two for a bit longer from a good safe hidden distance, keeping good track of them. He studied their different personalities and movements for future reference if needed. He couldn't wait for the day that he could have a chance to get an up close look at how these two worked, in his own way.

He managed to follow them undetected until they reached their destination at a chain family sit down restaurant. He wondered why the two of them stood outside looking around for a moment before a black car pulled up and he understood, they were awaiting their masters. When the driver of the car stepped out, his eyes narrowed. So these two belonged to the Winchesters? That perked up his interest in the angels even more and he just couldn't wait for a chance to see how this things functioned. He answered his phone when it went off, smiling wider as he watched how the Winchesters interacted with Gabriel and Castiel. Such interesting names for Angels.

"Alastair, you've got a lead on the project?" A man's voice came through the speaker of the phone.

"I'm looking at them right now. They pass for human if you don't know where to look. They come with a catch though, they have their own set of guard dogs. The Winchesters." The other end of the conversation was quiet for a moment.

"You know how this will have to go. They all have their weak points and when the Winchesters aren't hovering around them playing guard dog, we can take them and you can get to know them a bit better before passing them on to someone else." Alistair couldn't help but smile wider at that. Getting to know the new projects was what he did best after all.

"It sounds like a plan. I'll let you know when I can get close enough to them, Sir." He said softly, watching the two new angels enter the building. He couldn't wait to get his hands on them and see what would make them tick.


	6. Adventures in Misunderstandings

Even though they had been leaving Castiel and Gabriel home alone during the days while they worked, the Winchesters couldn't help themselves from feeling bad about them constantly being on their own. Dean really didn't want them didn't want them venturing out alone all the time, just in case anything were to happen to them, but he knew it was probably lonely for them to always have to be trapped in a place since that was how they started out in the first place. He wondered how long they were even conscious in the laboratory before they ended up with the Winchesters.

The brothers talked it over when they were at work and decided that it would be better off if they helped the androids find more places near home where they could be able to find a way to entertain themselves without a real risk of putting themselves in danger.

 

On their day off, Sam and Dean took them down to the recreational center, also used for Hunter training. The brothers walked the androids around the center to show them what was in some of the different zones. There was a zone for cardio training, one for muscle training, and a water zone with pools, diving boards, and platforms. Gabriel grinned when he saw these, so planning on jumping off of them the moment he had a chance.

"Sam, where are you going first?" Dean asked, trying to figure out what he felt he needed to do.

"I'm going to the cardio zone. Later we can take them to swim." Sam replied, motioning for Gabriel to follow him.

"Fine, we'll be in strength training and we'll meet up." Dean stated as he led Castiel to one of the first zones.

"What will you be doing in the strength room?" Castiel asked curiously.

"Just my normal quick routine. I don't really care too much about coming here but it keeps Sam quiet about me eating what I want. Afterwards we'll take you and Gabriel swimming." He stated before that brought up a very good point in his mind. Did they sink or would they just float?

Castiel nodded slowly at that. "Don't worry about moving too fast. I wouldn't want for you to strain yourself. I will be alright with waiting."

"Don't worry about it, I don't wanna be in here for a super long time anyways." Dean stated as they got to the zone. "So are you good?" He glancing back at Castiel as they passed a few bench pressed and other machines.

Castiel nodded slowly, looking at all of the different machines that everyone was working on. His azure eyes were filled with complete interest and wonder, since he had never seen anything like these in his life. "Don't worry about me, it will be alright."

"You've really never been to a gym before?" Dean asked before realizing that it didn't really serve much of a purpose for them. Castiel shook his head, running his fingers over the smooth metal of some of the equipment.

"We've never had occasion." He said softly as he admired all the different colorings of the free weights.

"Yeah, I don't see why you would. Well, entertain yourself for a bit and if you have any questions, come ask me." Dean replied, patting his back before he made his way to the other end of the room for some weight training.

When Dean was finished with his time in the lifting room and began to take his leave, he furrowed his eyebrows when he realized that Castiel was no longer in there. He looked around quickly, trying to see if maybe he was back in the room and had simply been overlooked, but there was no nerdy little android waiting for him there. He searched around in all of the work out rooms but to no avail.

He eventually found Sam on the track but quickly noticed that there was no tiny and loud angel beside him, or anywhere in the track room that he could see from the balcony wrapping around the entire track. After slowly moving around the tip to make sure that there wasn't any sign of Gabriel or Castiel, the Hunter cursed and ran down the stairs. "Sam!" He yelled out, waving his hand to get his attention. Sam quickly stopped running, pulling his ear bud out when he finally noticed him in his peripheral vision.

"What's going on, Dean?"

"Where's Gabriel? Have you seen Cas?" Sam furrowed his eyebrows at that and began looking around the room for the light haired android.

"Gabe was just here...I thought Cas was with you."

"Well he obviously isn't with me if I'm looking for him." Dean snapped before turning and looking around. He took off out of the running zone, looking around quickly for the projects. "Cas!" He called out, searching the different zones and not seeing either of them.

"Is there a problem, Winchester?" Dean glanced back, noticing Captain Henricksen for the first time.

"Um, nothing I can't handle, but if you see either of these two guys let me know. One's about five foot eight, amber eyes, kind of...golden light brown hair? He's kind of a snarky dude, you can't miss him if you see him. The other one is about five eleven-ish, dark almost black hair, bright blue eyes. He's super quiet so you probably wouldn't notice him too much. Just let me know ASAP if you do." Dean quickly explained before he took off to go back on his hunt for the androids. He almost wondered if he should just start keeping them on a leash so that they stopped wandering off like this.

"Castiel!" He yelled out as he entered the main hall. He looked around quickly, feeling his heart starting to pick up speed when he didn't see any sign of the two.

Could they have gone outside? No, there would be no reason since they charged all night. Unless someone took them out? What if someone actually abducted them? He cursed under his breath, hating that he didn't have his gun on him right now. He could feel his chest tightening at the thought of someone hurting Castiel to get information out of him. Did he have enough time for someone to check the outside surveillance tapes to see if there had been anyone shady hanging around out here? No, if he didn't find them in the next half an hour, that would be the step that he would have to take next. He quickly turned around, asking everyone in the lobby that he could if they had seen either of them. Getting only 'No, but I'll keep a look out' or a shake of a head as responses, that gave Dean a hint that made him both hopeful and on edge.

If no one in the lobby had seen them, then that meant that they hadn't been out and about in the long stretch of a room recently. They could either be in a different room, or they were outside. He was almost ready to start calling in some patrol cars and giving them the androids' descriptions but needed to believe in the small chance that maybe this time they didn't wander off so far. He took off down the other end of the lobby, looking around for them.

"Higher, Gabe!" He stopped dead in his tracks, his shoes skidding on the floor slightly and making a slight screeching noise as he slid.

He looked around quickly before seeing an open door and running inside only to come face to face with a young blonde woman in the obstacle course zone. The woman grinned at Dean, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, Dean. Long time no see." She greeted before she quickly noticed how tense he looked. "What's up?"

"Jo, were you the one who called out for Gabe?" He questioned her quickly, needing to know right away.

"Wow, no 'hello, how's it going' or anything? But yeah, I did say that name. Why?"

"Well, where is he?" Jo crooked an eyebrow at his impatience before she jutted her thumb back to point over her shoulder.  
Dean quickly looked over before his eyes widened slightly. Oh, dear God, you have got to be kidding.

Sure enough, scaling the wall at the end of the course was Gabriel and Castiel. Gabriel was at the top of the twenty foot wall, kicking his legs back and forth as he watched Castiel climb. Dean felt so much relief now that he knew they were perfectly fine before it was quickly replaced with anger.

They were here the whole time and they didn't even bother to tell anyone?!

"Castiel!" He yelled up, moving alongside the obstacle course so that he could get to where he was climbing. Castiel gripped the wall tighter to make sure he was secure before looking down at Dean.

"Yes, Dean?"

"You better hope that you can finish climbing that wall pretty fucking fast, because the second you get done I want your ass back down here."

"Dean, I do not understand how that is physically possible. Even if I were to let go, it would not take the same second from when I let go to hit the ground."

Dean had to stop for a second, his hand resting over his mouth for a second so he didn't yell at him then and there. He sighed in frustration, moving to cross his arms over his chest after he took the second to cool down a little. "You know what I mean, Cas."

Gabriel snickered as he watched Castiel start climbing again, shaking his head.

"I wouldn't be laughing either, Gabriel. You're in trouble when Sam finds you too."

"Okay, mom." Gabriel smiled wider, shrugging his shoulders. This was so much fun anyways, so he didn't really mind being punished. What was the worst they could do? Make him stay in the house?

"Don't even start with me." Dean stated, not in the mood to deal with his teasing.

The moment Castiel was back on the ground, having used the rope net on the other side of the wall to get down, he stood in front of Dean.

"Is everything alright?" He asked softly, just wanting for the human to be okay. He didn't think that he would stress him out that much if they went exploring a little.

"No, Cas, everything is not alright. I look away for a few minutes and next thing I know, you're gone! You can't do that to me, you understand me? I'm not saying that you can't go off and explore, but if you're gonna go somewhere else, you're gonna damn well tell me when you go somewhere. I swear to God, it's like raising three year old." Castiel furrowed his eyebrows, not liking how tense Dean looked.

"Are you upset?"

"Of course I'm upset Castiel! You know what I thought? I thought some freak led you outside, because with my luck you would run off with some sick fuck, and that he kidnapped you! What else am I supposed to think?! I was yelling your name and looking everywhere and I got absolutely nothing. I swear to God, you and your brother are the poster children of ADD and ADHD and I should have known better than to just leave you in one place and expect you to sit still!"

"So you were worried then?" A small smile appeared on Castiel's lips as he watched him curiously.

"Of course I was worried, Cas. If you were taken, I don't know what I'd do. I mean, the executives would have my ass if someone went and fucked you up." Castiel's smile faded at the last part, thinking that maybe Dean liked having him around. That seemed to be a mistake, if that last sentence was anything to go by. It actually made him feel a little upset since he had grown to like Dean more than he should like a friend during the time that he had been spending with him. He wished that he could find a way to get Dean to like him, not wanting him to stay angry at him.

"Oh...Well, I'm sorry, Dean." He said softly, unable to stop himself from looking crestfallen.

"Dean, they're in one piece, it'll be okay." Dean jumped at Sam's sudden appearance, scowling up at his younger brother. While on his search, Sam had been drawn to the sound of Dean yelling and was now watching Gabriel climb down from the wall.

"So we're not in trouble?" Gabriel asked with a wide smile as he went Castiel's side.

"No, you're not allowed to eat anything for a week, Gabriel. Not even candy." Sam stated, knowing that's where it would hit him most. If he took anything else away, Gabriel would just shrug and go along with it. His thoughts seemed to be correct since Gabriel scoffed slightly, his jaw dropping.

"You can't be serious, Sam! I need to eat!"

"No, Gabriel, you don't need to eat. You just enjoy it." Sam corrected him, smiling at the success of his plan.

"Am I grounded?" Castiel asked curiously, looking between Sam and Gabriel for a moment before looking back at Dean.

"Hell yeah you're gonna be grounded, Castiel. I'm taking your fucking books away." Dean stated, seeing his face fall.

"What am I supposed to do when you two are gone?"

"You can sit in a corner all day for all I know." Dean replied, thinking that he would figure something out on his own. Then again, this was Castiel and he made a habit of taking everything literally.  
Castiel frowned at that, cocking his head as he tried to think of something he could do instead of reading while Sam and Dean worked.

"So is the whole motherly situation over?" Jo asked as she moved closer to the four, seeing that Dean was no longer yelling his head off at the android.

"Motherly situation?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, Dean sounds just like my mom did when I was little." She snickered, shaking her head.

Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Well when they stop running off, I won't have to babysit them anymore." He pointed out, still in a bit of a foul mood. At least knowing that Castiel was safe and in one piece made him feel more at ease.

"Then why don't you stick a GPS in them?" Jo asked, arching her eyebrow slightly. "They've got lives of their own too, Dean. Well, technically. What do you expect from them? That they're just gonna sit and stare at you all day? Or be completely content with doing nothing while you're gone? You need to remember that these aren't the stiffs you're used to spending time with at your work." She stated before looking at Cas and Gabriel. "Ready for the next part?" She asked with a wide smile.

Sam and Dean watched from below as Castiel and Gabriel hung on the high bars, making their way across them little by little. Sam had to commend them for their upper body strength but then wondered if they gained any or if they were just created that way.

"Gabriel what are you doing?" Dean's voice took him out of his thoughts and he glanced up at the androids before his eyes widened.

Gabriel decided to take it upon himself to start hanging upside down, not even holding onto the rails to make sure his hands could keep his legs steady. To make it worse, he began swinging back and forth, keeping the bar tucked under his knees.

"Gabriel, be careful!" Sam called up to him, not wanting him to fall and break something. Could they even really break a bone? Well, he sure as hell had no desire to find out if they could.

"I'm always careful!" Gabriel grinned down at him, letting his arms hang by his head.

Sam could definitely beg to differ on that. "Just go facing upwards again!"

"Nope." He replied, smiling wider as he lifted one leg so he was dangling by one knee.

"Gabriel!" Sam exclaimed, quickly moving to the padded area under the bars.

"Relax, I'm not gonna fall!" He snickered, beginning to swing again. 

"Why? Would you catch me if I fell?"

Sam realized that maybe he should just let Gabriel fall, since this could teach him not to be so reckless. His conscience wouldn't allow him to do that though... Before he could speak up, what he feared did have to happen and Gabriel slipped, falling off of the bars. Sam quickly followed where he was falling, holding his arms out to him before Gabriel landed in them. His knees buckled at the sudden weight and the momentum of Gabriel falling sent them backwards and into a tangled mess on the ground.

"Well that could've gone a little more smoothly." Gabriel snorted, going to climb off of him but was stopped by Sam's tight grip around him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just caught me off guard a little." Sam mumbled.  
Dean shook his head as he watched him before glancing up at Castiel to see that he was looking between him and the other two on the ground. 

"Castiel, I swear to God, if you even try it..." He left the threat unfinished, crossing his arms over his chest. What would he even do? He couldn't let him fall, he could hurt himself. He frowned up at Castiel, making sure that he would finish the obstacle, unlike Gabriel. Castiel thankfully did listen for once and climbed down more before dropping when he was only a few feet off the ground.

"I'm sorry for vanishing." Castiel said softly as he went to Dean's side, resting his hands at his sides.

Dean thought about what Jo had said and shook his head. "Don't apologize. Just be more careful next time. I'm not saying you gotta follow me every second, but when you go somewhere you need to tell me where you're going. No more running off, Cas." Castiel nodded slowly at that, smiling a bit at him.

"I will keep that in mind for next time."

"I sure hope so." Dean mumbled as Gabriel and Sam got up.

"Do you guys like coming here? We can get you passes so you can do stuff when we're working."

"That would be nice." Castiel nodded, enjoying this place. There were so many different things here that he and Gabriel could use to entertain themselves with when they couldn't be with their humans.

"We can get it programmed into your wristbands and it will just take a second." Sam suggested, motioning for the androids to follow them back to the lobby.

"So it looks like you found them." Dean looked over at Victor, nodding and sighing.

"These jackasses were over in the obstacle course with Jo Harvelle." He stated, motioning back to the two with his thumb. Victor nodded as he got a good look at the two new androids for the first time.

"And they're fully functional?"

"Most of the time. It seems to really all depend on the day." He stated, wondering if they had a few wiring errors in their head most of the time.

"I resent that statement." Gabriel snickered, not really caring either way on what he was saying.

"That one there has proved to me that it's possible for androids to have ADHD." Sam smiled at Dean's comment, really agreeing with it.

"Sir, there are new leads on the Mason case. We need for you to assess them as soon as possible." Castiel cocked his head when a delicate looking red head stood beside the strange man Dean was talking to. She glanced over at him, looking down to his wrist band before looking back up at him.

"You're new." She said softly, more to herself than him.

"Yeah, they're new prototypes, Anna." Sam answered her, seeing the way that she was studying Castiel and Gabriel. "Anna's part of the Grace program. She helps out with telling us our new cases and if anything new comes up. She keeps us updated."

"Think of it as a sort of a police police scanner." Dean stated, causing Anna's eyebrows to furrow a little as she watched him.

"Thanks, Dean. I like to think that I'm a little more advanced than that." She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at him. Her dark eyes soon flashed before she looked back at Henricksen. “There's another eyewitness for the Mason case.”

"It's a good comparison." Dean replied with a shrug as Henricksen nodded to her. "Alright, we're going to head off. Call if you need anything."

"I thought we were going to go swimming." Castiel said softly.

"Yeah, there's an actual water park not too far away and we're going there."

"Even though we vanished?" Gabriel asked with a grin.

"Yeah, if you try vanishing at this place, you're sitting at the lab while we're at work until they control your ADHD." Dean stated as they headed back to the Impala.

 

When they got to the water park, it thankfully wasn't too busy. Gabriel grinned as he rested his hands on the window, pressing to the glass so that he could see all of the big and colorful slides. When they were able to get in and changed, Gabriel bounced impatiently on his feet while they got lockers and put their clothes in.

"C'mon! Let's go!" He grinned, leading the way to one of the bigger slides. He grabbed a double tube, wanting to ride down with Sam.

"Do you want to go, Cas?" Dean asked, earning a nod.

"Yes, I'd like that." He replied, helping Dean grab a double tube. It was a quick trip up a winding staircase to get to the top, Gabriel stepping in front of the tube so it didn't go.

"Got it Sam?" He asked, glancing back. Sam nodded, climbing in beside him and moving his long legs on either side of him. Gabriel smiled widely as he leaned back against his chest and pushed off, sending them flying down the dark tube.

Castiel smiled as he heard Gabriel laughing and cheering, happy that he was having such a great time. “Ready, Cas?” Dean asked, setting the tube on the top of the slide and keeping it from going down by standing in one of the holes. Castiel nodded, doing what Gabriel did and moving to sit in the front hole. “Like this?” He asked curiously.

“That's right.” Dean replied, having Castiel hold the opening so he could sit before he told him it was safe to let go. Dean pushed off and they were encased in darkness, taking quick turns and spins. Castiel gripped the handles of the tube a bit tighter as they sped down, trying not to lean too much so they wouldn't fall over. When they got to the bottom,the force of hitting the pool tipped them over. Castiel stayed under for a bit before he resurfaced, looking back as Dean got the tube out of the water. “Cas, C'mon, you can't stay in there. If you wanna go swimming then I'll take you to one of the pools.” Dean replied, climbing out before he held his hand out to him. He looked around, seeing that Sam and Gabriel were long gone.

“There are pools here?” Castiel asked, cocking his head as he moved over to him and used his help to get out of the water.

“Yes, Cas, there are pools. Do you want to go down to the pools first or do you want to go down more slides?”

“More slides.” He replied, looking around at all of the big curvy slides.

When Gabriel and Sam split off from Castiel and Dean, Gabriel dragged Sam down onto the different slides with him, wanting to try out all of the ways to go down. One time he tried to see if the could loop the tube around the slide, but that ended with him and Sam rolling down with a tangled mess. Not that Gabriel minded at all in the slightest. He laughed when they lay at the bottom, Sam on top of him and their legs tangled.

"Wow, Sam. You really know how to make me feel special." He smirked up at him, raising his eyebrows.

"This is all your fault." Sam replied, shaking his head as he got to his feet and helped him up. The smile on his face only grew as he watched Gabriel shake the water out of his hair.

"What can I say? It's fun." He grinned, taking Sam's hand and grabbing the raft as he looked around for what to do next.

"Let's go to the wave pool." He grinned at him before leading the way.

"Listen, Gabriel, I need to talk to you." He started, thing to think of how to do this. He couldn't help the attraction that he had beginning to feel towards Gabriel in the few weeks that they had been living together, not really minding that Gabriel technically wasn't even a human. It wasn't that strange, since so many people did it, so he didn't mind being so attracted to the android's personality and looks. While sometimes he could be so aggravating, other times he found himself constantly smiling and finding himself watching the android to see what he would do next.

"I'm listening."

"So we've been spending a lot of time together lately..." He started before Gabriel piped up and cut him off.

"Yeah, you're fun to hang around. You're interesting and kind of funny sometimes." He grinned as Sam shook his head.

"Okay, well I was wondering if maybe some time if you aren't busy..."

"I'm never busy." Gabriel smiled up at him as they followed the path. Sam sighed in frustration at his constant interruptions, turning so he could grab Gabriel by the shoulders and press their lips together. Gabriel grinned against his mouth, slowly moving his arms around his neck and pulling him closer to his body. Sam was actually surprised by how soft and warm his mouth was, actually feeling like it was a perfectly normal kiss.

"As I was saying," he started as he pulled away from the kiss. "when you aren't busy, if you would want to go out with me."

Gabriel grinned at that, running his fingers through his hair. "I don't see why not. It could be fun." He said with a small shrug. Sam nodded, taking one of the handles again for the tube to help him carry it to the large wave pool.

“So someone was saying that this place is different at night time. Are you fine with staying and seeing it?”

“Why? What happens at night?” Gabriel asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It becomes a night club.” Sam wasn't sure how exactly that happened but apparently it was super popular.

“How does it become a night club?” Gabriel asked with a laugh.

“That's what we are going to find out.”

“Sounds good.” Gabriel grinned at him and was actually excited to see how this was going to turn out.

 

Before the sun could go down, set up of the night club began. The large wave pool was covered with a thick and layered plexiglass cover that turned it into a fully functioning light up dance floor. The stereo system was quickly set up, along with all of the different bars. Each attendee had to wear a special band around their wrist that would track their alcohol levels. When the person was sober, it was clear, and as it read off their number and increased, it would slowly turn red when they were intoxicated. At that point, they would be blocked from going near any of the water slides since they would only become a danger to themselves and those around them. By nine, the club was busy and music blasted as people danced to the beat. The Winchesters and androids had gotten dressed again long ago and wandered around the club to get a feel for it. 

Sam discovered that alcohol did actually have an effect on androids, watching as Gabriel's wristband began slowly turning red. While it took much more alcohol than it would require for a human, it did appear to be working on him. Gabriel bounced on his feet to the beat of the music, humming along with it before turning to Sam and grinning.

“Come dance with me.” He beamed at him, taking his hand and quickly leading him to the floor. Sam shook his head, smiling widely as Gabriel moved his arms around him and began dancing. He rested his hands on his hips to keep him close, moving with him to the beat.

Dean shook his head as he watched them, taking a swig of his beer. Castiel was taking his time with drinking, looking around at all of the people and the occasional android. He soon saw a flash on blonde hair and a black jacket, cocking his head as he headed over. 

“Balthazar?” He asked curiously, wanting to make sure it was him.

The blonde turned around, drinks in hand and smiled widely at him. “Cassie.” He greeted, nodding to him.

“What are you doing here?”

“My owner and I usually come out here whenever we get the chance.” He replied.

“So your owner is here?” Castiel looked around, trying to find anyone who looked like they could be owning him.

“She isn't here yet, but she'll be here soon. She wanted me to come ahead and get the drinks first.” He shrugged before grinning.

“Where's your owner?”

“Over there.” He nodded to where Dean was watching them afar.

“Well, isn't he an attractive one? Please tell me that you have at least ridden that rodeo.” Castiel furrowed his eyebrows.

“I don't understand, I haven't been near a rodeo.” Balthazar groaned at that, seeing this one was a little behind on his innuendos.

“Sex, Castiel. Have you slept with him?” He asked slowly. Castiel's eyes widened, causing Balthazar's smile to widen. Looks like something finally clicked in that electronic brain of his.

“No, of course not.” He said quickly as he looked away from him.

“Mm, so you want him to sleep with you.” Balthazar pointed out before he smirked and winked at him. “I can help you with that.”

“How...?” He asked curiously, trusting that Balthazar could know of a really good way to get Dean's attention, since he was a lover unit.

“Oh, like this.” Balthazar set the drinks down for a moment, before brushing the back of his fingers across his jaw. “Play along and he'll be all yours in just a moment.” He added before leaning forwards and brushing their lips together. Castiel furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding how exactly this was supposed to be helping him.

Next thing he knew, there was a hand around his wrist and he was being pulled away from Balthazar. Dean pulled Castiel through the crowd, until they were somewhere more secluded.

“Dean?” Castiel asked, really not understanding what was going right about now with him.

“What the hell, Cas? So you're going to start making out with random guys at fucking nightclubs now, of all fucking places, for fun?” Dean snapped, unable to believe that this was happening now.

“He isn't a random guy...He is my friend...”

“Yeah, a friend who wants to bang you!” He exclaimed, shaking his head. “I can't believe this, this is so ridiculous. “I can't believe this Castiel, there must be faulty wiring in your programing or something since you're just running off, making out with random people, and who knows what else?” Castiel looked hurt at that, not knowing why he had to say something like him being faulty...He didn't believe there was anything wrong with him. Was there something messed up with his system?

“Dean, I am not faulty. The only thing I am doing is trying to figure out why you are so angry at me so often. I try to do my best, but it still feels like sometimes we are close and then other times you really do not like me.” Dean had to pause and just stare at Castiel.

“You really don't think I like you?”

“I don't know what to think, Dean. When it gets like this, it feels like you don't really like me at all.” Dean groaned in frustration, shaking his head.

“That's not it, Castiel. If I get angry, it's because you just take off and I don't know where you are. Do you want me to feel happy when there's a chance of you ending up on some black market?”

“No...I understand that you get worried, and I'm sorry for worrying you.” He said softly.

Dean sighed, resting his hands on Castiel's cheeks. "Cas, I don't hate you. Yes, you're frustrating, you're nerdy, you're naive, but I don't hate you." He mumbled before shaking his head and looking away from him as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do now. He wanted to just say that the protectiveness was simply because Castiel was an expensive prototype that would cost Dean the rest of his life if anything were to happen to him. He wanted to just say that he was just doing his job and helping the prototype learn about the word. He couldn't help himself as they spent more time together, because with every single new thing that he would watch Castiel learn, he found himself becoming more and more protective of the prototype. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to let him go once the experiment was finished, so in his mind, the way they had been kept it so that he wouldn't be so hurt when it came time for him to leave. Seeing that he had been hurting Castiel though made him realize that he didn't want to push him away. He didn't want Castiel to end up with anyone else and he didn't want him to end up alone. He quickly kissed Castiel's lips before he pulled away and let him go. It looks like Balthazar really knew how to make things happen, albeit at a slow pace going by Dean's actions. Castiel stared at Dean, trying to think of how to respond to that. "Are you still angry at me?" Dean groaned and shook his hand, taking his hand before he led him back to where everyone was dancing. Castiel looked around for Balthazar so he could at least attempt to thank him for the assistance that he had given him. He didn't think he would be able to actually get close enough to him to actually communicate with him, if Dean's grip on his wrist was anything to go by. He soon spotted the love bot, his arm around a young brunette woman as they laughed about something. He kissed her temple gently, rubbing her side as they drank. He glanced up at Castiel and grinned at him before winking. Castiel smiled back at little at him, mentally thanking him for kissing him so that he could learn if Dean really disliked him or not. Dean glanced over to where Castiel was looking and narrowed his eyes a little, giving the blonde a silent death threat for if he ever tried to kiss Castiel ever again. Balthazar grinned at Dean, giving him a small wave before heading off with his girl./p>

“You don't look too happy, Winchester. Then again, from what I've seen, you never look too happy.” Dean groaned at the voice, turning to see a shorter dark haired man in a well tailored suit.

“Never would've taken you for someone that comes here, Crowley.” He stated, raising an eyebrow. Castiel looked between the two slowly, wondering if this was a work related thing.

“I go wherever I'm needed.” The man stated, shrugging his shoulders and circling the contents of his glass as he stared at the alcohol in it. “Much like you, if you wanna think that way.”

“No, I'm nothing like you.” Dean rolled his eyes. “Don't you have anything better to do beside bothering me?”

“Oh please, don't be so dramatic. I get enough of you in the city anyways. You and your giraffe of a brother.” He scrunched his face up a little in distaste before noticing Castiel for the first time. “And who is this?”

“This is Castiel.” Dean mumbled, not even really wanting to introduce them. “This is Crowley. Probably the only time you'll see him, so it won't matter.” That only caused Crowley to shake his head.

“Manners, Winchester. That thick skull of yours has to have retained some sort of memory of having them.” Crowley stated before looking this Castiel over. “So you're into doe-eyed things now. Not bad.” He stated before grabbing Castiel's hand and turning his wrist to look at the Angel band. When Castiel went to jerk away, Crowley just tucked it back and crooked a finger under the band. “Relax, Bambi, I'm only taking a peek. No code though. So he's a custom?”

Dean furrowed his eyebrows at that, never realizing that before. Castiel didn't have a code on his band? Then again, maybe it was because he was a special prototype.

“He's well made at least. Plush. You'd get a lot of money for someone like him.” He pointed out and that's when Dean decided that the conversation was done.

“Don't even think about it. I'm not even going to reply to that. But you tell anyone about Cas, or bring up how he could be worth a sum of money to me and I'll knock your lights out.” He stated as he took Castiel's hand and led him away from the man. Far away.

“Who was he?” Castiel asked curiously.

“If you ever see him and I'm not around, avoid him. We use him for information every now and again but other than that, he's just a shady guy. He's the kind who would sell you to the highest bidder for his own sick fun.” He replied before looking around for Sam and Gabriel. He spotted Sam yards away sitting against a wall with Gabriel curled up with his head on his lap. “Fantastic.” He mumbled, leading Castiel over to them.

“Sam, please don't tell me you're drunk.” He mumbled, needing at least one other sane person fully conscious until they got home. Sam shrugged, holding up his wrist with the alcohol band on it. The light red coloring caused him to sigh in relief as he looked at Gabriel's glowing red one. “Did he pass out?”

“No.” Gabriel mumbled, yawning as he kept his eyes closed.

“Okay, we're going home. Sam, grab him and we'll carry him out.” Dean mumbled, shaking his head a little.

“C'mon Gabe, sit up.”

“No.” Gabriel replied, needing a little push before Sam was able to get up and lift him so they could get to the car.

Seeing how intoxicated Gabriel had gotten made Dean wonder if androids could get hangovers. It'd serve Gabriel right, and it'd be interesting to see anyways. Sam took back seat in the car while Gabriel passed out on his lap, Castiel taking shotgun and taking Dean's hand while the human kept one on top of the wheel.

“Thank you for taking us.” Castiel said softly as he gently squeezed it. He was completely content with how this day turned out since he no knew that he was able to kiss Dean whenever he wanted.


	7. If It Bleeds...

In the morning, Sam woke up to a bare bed, with the exception of the pillow under his head. "Gabriel?" He asked softly, looking around for the android. A light groan came from the side of the bed and when Sam moved to get a better look at him, he spotted Gabriel tightly bundled up in the bedding with only his feet visible. "Are you hungover?"

"No, I'm just tired and in pain." He stated softly, slowly moving from under the blankets. His hair was completely messy from rolling around in his sleep and he still looked a little out of it.

"Did you plug yourself in last night?"

"Didn't need to."

"Why?"

"Well, do you want the Gabriel answer or the scientific answer?" He asked as he yawned and stretched.

"I'm curious about the Gabriel answer." Gabriel smiled at that before flipping him off.

"Then fuck off and go ask Castiel or something, I'm tired. That's the Gabriel answer." He snickered as he curled back up in the bedding. Sam smiled and shook his head as he moved to lay on the floor with Gabriel. Gabriel curled up in his chest, looping his arm around his waist as he hummed in content.

"So what does happen when you drink?"

"Our bodies convert the alcohol levels in our bodies and slowly turn it into our blood. We get groggy and 'intoxicated' in the first place because the process is slow and when we drink it recreates the feelings like it would in a human. Our hangover is just the painful experience of making more blood. And I haven't lost any blood lately so I will end up with too much." He mumbled as he got up and motioned for Sam to follow him. 

"What happens when you get too much?" Sam asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Holy shit, you ask a ton of questions." Gabriel laughed before he turned to face him. "If we have too much blood in our bodies, we will expel it." Sam had to take a second to think about it, furrowing his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to ask what on earth that meant but got his answer instead.

A steady stream of blood began to drip down Gabriel's face through his nostrils. The android furrowed his eyebrows, wiping his nose with the back of his hand before he saw the red. "Oh, well there you have it, Sammy. This is what happens when we drink too much."

"You bleed?" Sam led him to the bathroom, lifting him so be could sit on the counter before grabbing a washcloth and holding his nose with it.

"It's unnecessary to store extra blood." Gabriel rolled his eyes as he let Sam take care of the blood.

"You don't lose too much, right?" Sam asked softly, hoping nothing happened to them if they were to lose an excessive amount.

"Nope, I'm fine." He replied, smiling widely at him. "It's not like I can really bleed to death or anything." He snickered as he pulled the cloth away. 

Sam saw just how quickly it was becoming red and shook his head slowly. "I'm not too convinced of that." He mumbled, pressing it back to Gabriel's nose before making him tilt his head back. "Just sit still, Gabe."

"Why should I? It's boring." He groaned, squirming and trying to get away from the cloth.

"Because you're still bleeding, Gabe." Sam stated as he kept his nose plugged. He soon let go of his nose, seeing the the bleeding had finally stopped.

"So this happens every time you drink?"

"Not every time I drink, just about every time I get intoxicated." He snickered, shaking his head as he jumped off the counter. "So I take it you haven't fully finished that manual Chuck gave you, Gigantor." Gabriel turned, taking Sam's hand and placing it on his arm so he could gently squeeze and feel it. "Feel the softness? It's not just the silicone. Under our layer of 'skin', we have a layer of where our bodies keeps our blood. It makes us feel more human when we're touched. So obviously, if we stored too much, we would feel puffy and gross."

Sam nodded at that, finding all of these new things about the androids so interesting.

"What happens if you get cut?"

"What happens if _you_ get cut?" Gabriel snickered as he shook his head. "I really don't think you get sick of asking questions." He smiled wider.

"Does it bother you?" Sam asked, just really curious.

"Not really, I just like messing with you. You get all flustered and embarrassed." Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head as he smiled widely. He wondered if Gabriel's favorite pass time was just screwing with him. "So I take it Dean's still in bed?"

"Yeah, it's seven in the morning. If he can sleep in, he will." Sam pointed out.

"Castiel is probably just attached to his side." He snickered before he went to go check.

 

Sure enough, Dean was still asleep and Castiel was a few feet away from him. The blue eyed android stared at the human, barely blinking as he stayed focused on him. His lips slowly moved as he whispered to himself, never taking his eyes off of his face.

"Cas, what are you doing?" Gabriel asked softly, careful not to wake Dean.

"Ninety-nine..." He mumbled before looking at Gabriel. "Yes?"

"What are you doing?" Gabriel repeated.

"Counting." Castiel said softly as he went back to staring at Dean's face.

"Okay...Counting what?"

"His freckles." Gabriel snickered at that, shaking his head as he saw just how infatuated Castiel was with the human.

"Alright, well you have fun trying to count all of his freckles. If he wakes up and sees you staring at him again you know he's going to freak out again."

Castiel shrugged his shoulders and went back to admiring Dean's face and counting his freckles one by one. When he was a little over halfway finished, Dean opened his eyes and slowly began to fully wake up. He furrowed his eyebrows when he realized that Castiel was only staring at him.

"What are you doing, Cas?" He asked, his voice rough with his sleepiness. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, yawning lightly as he sat up.

"Nothing." Castiel replied as he watched him sit up. Dean raised his eyebrow at that, shaking his head a little.

"Alright. You really are just into staring then." He said softly, stretching his body and slowly working all of the kinks out of his body to help him wake up.  
“Is that a bad thing?” Castiel asked softly, pulling the plug out of himself before he wrapped the cord up and set it on the end table.

“It can be. If you just stare at people in public for a long time, they'll probably think that you're some sort of stalker.” Dean replied with a shrug as he looked back at him. Castiel furrowed his eyebrows, staying seated on the bed as he watched him.

“Oh.” He mumbled as he nodded and looked down at the bedding. “I'll try to stop then.”

“Dude, you worry too much. I guess I don't really care what you do when you're at home since it's not really hurting anyone. It's just pretty weird to wake up to it.” He replied, ruffling Castiel's already messy hair in an attempt to help him feel just a little better. Castiel smiled a little at that, fixing his hair with his hand. “What do you want to do today?”

“I'm not sure...” He cocked his head as he tried to think of something to do, getting up so that he could make the bed for Dean. “We could just perhaps maybe go to the mall? Gabriel said something about wanting to go there for something.” Castiel shrugged as he glanced back at Dean.

“That sounds good. I'll run it by Sam and we'll head out after breakfast or something.” Dean mumbled as he grabbed some clothes and headed to go take a shower.

 

After everyone had gotten ready and eaten, they went to the mall so that the androids would be able to go to have some time to wander around and see if they wanted any of the things that they came across in the stores. The brothers eventually split up with their androids since they both seemed to be distracted by anything with bright colors.

Thankfully, the androids didn't fully catch that they were being watched once again from a distance. Alastair couldn't believe his luck on being able to see the new little toys so soon again. He called up his boss, wanting to see if he was allowed to get close with them and toy with them once more.

"Have you got a view of the objects?" The voice on the phone asked.

"Yes, sir. Target Blue is being completely shielded by Guard dog Alpha, but Target Amber is in my sights. His guardian just went to the coffee shop. What do you want me to do to loud mouth?"

"How much of an open window do you have?"

"Five minutes at most. There's a short line. We won't be able to move onto our plan just yet, but I can at least tag him so we can keep an eye on him."

"Go with whatever you feel is best and then report back to me. If you can, get the both of them, but don't make the first target a number one priority. If you have an opening on just one of them, take it."  
“Yes, Sir.” He responded before hanging up and getting two of his easier tools out. He slowly crept behind the smaller male, watching his every movement to try and make sure that he wouldn't turn around. 

When Gabriel turned a corner and into a secluded area of the shop, he smiled widely at his luck. The big aisles in the corner would prevent anyone from seeing them easily and he would be able to get in and out quickly. Alastair waited patiently for the android focused on some brightly colored packages of snacks before he made his move by shoving the android to the wall and covering his mouth before any sound could escape his lips. When Gabriel began to thrash and struggled to get free, a taser was pressed to the edge of his neck to incapacitate him and drain his battery before Gabriel finally passed out.

Alastair had the perfect plan for how he could quickly get in and out of the place with no one getting suspicious. After implanting the chip into Gabriel's arm, he dropped him to the ground and pretended that he had simply passed out. He helped him into a chair and when people began trying to get him awake and alert, he slipped out with the plans of only hurrying off so he could wait for his next orders. 

However, when Alastair saw Dean leaving Castiel alone to go see what happened with Gabriel, he couldn't believe his luck. He ducked away from Dean so he wouldn't be recognized while the android's guard dog slipped past. He smiled widely when Dean didn't see him, happy that he could have a chance to play a little more with the new androids before their plan came into action.

This was going to be so much easier that he could have ever imagined. It would teach those stupid guard dogs to never leave their little lambs out of their sights, because someone could just snatch them up when they weren't looking. He gave Castiel the same treatment he gave Gabriel, sneaking up behind him before tasing and tagging him. He helped Castiel into a nearby chair, gently stroking his hair for a moment as he watched the dazed android with a twisted fondness on his face.

"I thought I told you to watch out for yourself and the things around you, Angel." He said softly, tsking lightly before he pulled away and finally left the building while the little android was still seized up. The best thing about tasing an android was that when the electrical current would drain their batteries and freeze their minds up so they wouldn't remember what had just happened to them. He pushed the android down to sit in a chair, patting his head almost lovingly. “I'll see you later, Little Angel.”

"Cas?" Castiel blinked slowly before he looked up at Dean, watching the human curiously as Dean waved his hand in front of his face.

"Yes, Dean?"

"God, I've been trying to get your damn attention for a few minutes now. Are you okay?" He asked, looking him over to make sure he was perfectly fine:

"I'm fine, Dean." Castiel replied, rubbing his eyes for a moment before he slowly got to his feet.

"Are you tired?" Castiel nodded again as he looked up at him.

"Just a little. What about Gabriel, is he alright?"

"Yeah, Sam woke him up and we're going to go home. Did you charge last night?"

“Yes, Of course I did.” He said with a light yawn.

Dean nodded slowly and led the drained android back to his car so that he could take him home to get him some rest.

Dean and Sam kept an eye on Gabriel and Castiel after they returned home, wanting to make sure that nothing serious would happen to either of them while they charged again. They had been charged the night before, so they didn't really understand how exactly they could have been tired out so fast and decided that they would have to make sure they could get a chance to check the surveillance footage of the mall from that day when they got into work the next morning.

During the night, Castiel twitched in his sleep, groaning lightly and curling up tighter into a ball before going still again for a few more moments. He soon began to bite at his lip, burying his face into the bedding as images and voices flooded his mind.

“You're only a machine, you'll only ever be a tool.” Echoed in his mind over and over. “Someday, they will shut you down and there is nothing you can do about it.” His eyes quickly opened and he sat up, taking a deep slow breath before he sighed and lay back down so that he could go to sleep.

This time, his dream was filled with fast images that he almost couldn't catch. There was him and Gabriel going somewhere, blurred and fast voices with words he couldn't quiet understand. He could feel his head pound, sharp pains flashing every now and again as the images continued before he could hear the screeching of tires followed by a deafening crash. _“Castiel!”_ He jolted at the sound his eyes shooting open to see Dean on top of him trying to shake him awake.

“Shit, are you okay? You were mumbling and thrashing in your sleep.” He said softly before biting his lip. “You're bleeding.” Dean mumbled, climbing off of the bed before grabbing a towel and pressing it to Castiel's nose as he sat up. “I didn't think you guys having nightmares would mean you bleed.” 

Castiel shrugged, rubbing his eyes as he kept it there. “I'm sorry for waking you.” He said softly, looking up at Dean.

“Don't worry about it, it's not like you could help it...What were you even dreaming about?”

“I don't remember.” Castiel said softly as he looked up at him. Dean sighed and checked after a bit longer to make sure the bleeding stooped before he patted Castiel's head. “Alright, then I guess you should just go back to sleep. If you have another nightmare, then I'll just wake you again.” He mumbled, tossing the towel into his hamper before he waited for Castiel to fall asleep again. He watched him for a while after he slept, making sure that he wasn't having any other nightmares before he finally allowed himself to fall asleep.

Over the next day, Castiel and Gabriel both had have strange flashes where they would zone out and stare off into space, or twitch. They didn't really seem to notice these things happening as the day progressed or they would eventually slowly wander around the house as they thought about different things. Castiel tried to think about the different nightmares or his thoughts and tried to think about what exactly they even meant.

 

The Winchesters got a chance to look over the surveillance tapes at work, having a little help with getting them after they asked Anna to look into it. At first they didn't notice anything off before the noticed who was carrying Gabriel when he passed out.

“Wait a minute...” Dean mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows. “Is that...That's fucking Alastair.” He stated before he cursed under his breathe and shook his head. “Just fucking great. We need to talk to them and find out if he fucking said anything to them or what the Hell he did to them.”  
“He's never going to stop trying to screw up over, will he?” Sam mumbled, sighing as he leaned back. “Castiel didn't say anything about the mall did he? You said he had just been staring off into space.”

“At first I thought that he was just staring off into space, but now I'm really starting to think that he was fucked with.” He stated, about ready to go find Alastair and tear him to pieces himself.

“Don't worry, if he's going to keep going after them, then we're going to be able to take him down. He's going to have to get close to us and now we know what to watch out for.” Sam replied, trying to keep his cool. At least he knew that Castiel and Gabriel would be safe at home for now, and if a time came where they couldn't leave them at home, they could keep them here with Chuck while they worked.

 

Later, after all of the images and thoughts that Castiel had been thinking that day that he had never dealt with before, most of which were things about how he would eventually be tossed if he didn't do anything, he couldn't take it anymore. He felt like something was wrong, and it was something that he had never felt before. He couldn't put his finger on what exactly was wrong, but his software began to process an intrusion in his programming and began to search it out just like a human's body would if there was an infection. 

Castiel scratched absentmindedly at his arm, furrowing his eyebrows. He continued to slowly scratch at his arm, wincing slightly as he broke the skin. He didn't stop though, feeling like there was something wrong with him. The strange images that came in his nightmares and the flashes that he would get when he was awake. He continued to slowly dig, staring at the TV as he sat beside Gabriel until he could feel something trickling down his arm.

"Cas, what are you doing to your arm?" Dean asked as he quickly went to his side and grabbed it so he could look at it better. Castiel glanced down at his arm to see he had broken through the layer of skin and pierced the layer of blood but he couldn't stop scratching. 

"There's something wrong, Dean." He said softly.

"Cas, stop scratching." He ordered, pulling at his hand so that he couldn't try to do it anymore.

"I need to, Dean. I can't help it."

"What do you mean 'you can't help it'? You're just getting it deeper into your arm."

"So?" He asked, watching as Dean tried to get the bleeding to stop. "There's something in my arm." 

Dean paused at that and looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know but there is something that does not belong in there." He mumbled, scratching at his arm again and wincing.

"That means that we should take you to Chuck then, right?"

"I don't have time, I need to get it out." Castiel replied, getting to his feet and heading to the kitchen.

Dean asked Gabriel if he knew what was going on with him but only got a slight shrug as Gabriel glanced over at the kitchen. The moment Dean heard Castiel hiss in pain, he jumped to his feet and hurried in to see the android now using a kitchen knife to get into his arm.

"What the fuck, Cas? You're hurting yourself!" Dean snapped as he went to his side.

"It doesn't matter, Dean. This thing will damage me."

"Yeah, I'll say! You have a fucking knife in your arm!"

"I don't mean the knife, I know where to cut. This thing inside of me though, I need to get it out." He mumbled, hissing as he began using the knife again to dig deeper into his arm. Dean struggled to remember that Castiel couldn't exactly bleed to death and tried to help him in any way that he could. If there really was something in Castiel, they would need to get it out. "Stay still for minute while I go grab something." Dean mumbled before heading upstairs to grab two boxes. One was a first aid kit given to him when he joined the Hunter task force, the other was one given to him by Chuck recently. He opened the normal one, grabbing out his hand held X-ray scanner before turning it on and slowly running it over Castiel's arm. Everything looked pretty normal, well normal for an android, before he got over where Castiel had been carving.

"Shit, what the hell is a microchip doing there?" He asked, setting it aside. Chuck had shown him the different prints of Castiel's wiring and coding and he knew for sure that there had never been a random fucking microchip in Castiel's forearm before.

"I'm going to help you with this, but stay still, Cas." Castiel nodded before he balled his hand into a fist and bit down on his lip when Dean began to cut into his arm the rest of the way. He used a special plastic gel that Chuck had put into the kit, running it over the cuts in the plastic of the blood packs to temporarily seal it and avoid getting blood into his wiring when they would get that far. “Are you ready now?” He asked after he had blotted up the rest of his blood. 

Castiel nodded slowly, breathing heavily and closing his eyes. “Yes, you can do it now.” He said softly.  
Dean sighed and shook his head before he began cutting into him again. Castiel cried out before he bit down on his lip and tried not to trash. “It's okay, we're almost done, Cas. Just hang in there for a bit longer.” he said softly as he got through the bottom of the final layer. “I'm through, we're just about done, I can see it.” Castiel nodded, gripping the counter top and feeling it crack under his fingers. Dean set the knife aside and grabbed some tweezers so he could begin working on prying the chip out of his body. Castiel hissed in pain as he tilted his head back and clenched his jaw. “It's out.” he said softly as Castiel sighed in relief.

“Thank you, Dean.” He mumbled as Dean began to bandage the large wound on his arm.

“It's not over yet, we're going to take you to Chuck and get your arm fixed up. So how long has this been bugging you anyways?” Castiel furrowed his eyebrows and began thinking about it.

“Since the mall, when I zoned out...Maybe something happened.” He mumbled. Dean furrowed his eyebrows and remembered some other strange activity that had been going on lately. Both men looked over at Gabriel, seeing he was watching them. Gabriel realized what that meant and shook his head quickly as he got to his feet.

“Hell, no. I am not going to carve myself up like a damn jack-o-lantern.”

“Gabriel, let me see your damn arm. If there's nothing in there, we'll leave it at that. If there is something though, we're taking it out.”

“No way in Hell.” Gabriel stated before groaning and holding his hand out as Dean brought over the X-ray device. Dean scanned his arm slowly before stopping in the center.

“There's one here too. And since you didn't start damaging yourself like Cas here, you can find where the puncture mark is.” He mumbled as he set it aside.

“Do you really have to cute me open to get it?” He asked with a sigh.

“Well, yeah. That's how we're gonna get it out...Do you want Sam to help?” Gabriel nodded and Dean went to go get his brother.

 

Once they got Gabriel's chip out too, the brothers put them each in a bag and labeled them before they took Castiel and Gabriel to see Chuck so that they could fix their arms up. When they got there, they ran into an Asian kid working in the labs and going over some paperwork.

“Who are you?” Dean asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked him over slowly.

“I'm Kevin Tran, I'm an intern.” The young man replied as he looked up at Dean before he saw Gabriel and Castiel. “Hey guys. So what's going on?”

“Where's Chuck?” Dean asked before Sam placed a hand on his shoulder to get him to hold on for a minute.

“Listen, I'm Sam Winchester and this is my brother, Dean. We were put in charge of looking over Castiel and Gabriel for now and they're having a problem. Do you have any idea where Chuck could be right now?”

“Chuck's picking dinner up right now. What sort of problem are they having?”

“Do you know how to fix up robotic injuries?” Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well...Um, depending on how severe it is, I can probably fix it.” Dean nodded and unraveled the bandages on Castiel's wrist as Sam did the same to Gabriel's.

“You're kidding right?” Kevin asked after staring at the injuries for a minute before looking up at the Winchesters.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Just...What exactly happened?”

“Something was bugging Cas so he started so I found him hacking himself up and we discovered that someone implanted chips on them. So we removed them.” Dean stated simply.

“Okay, I can see that, but it also sort of looks like they got butchered.” Kevin mumbled before sighing lightly. “Okay, give me some time and I'll fix them up.” He led the androids back to one of the labs so that he could fix the androids injuries.

“What are we going to do?” Sam asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked back at Dean.

“We're going to start keeping them here again for now until we make sure that Alastair and whoever the fuck he's working for can't get their hands on them when we're working. If we're lucky, they haven't tracked the location of the house yet and we're still safe during the night. All I really know for sure is that it isn't safe to just let them out of the house alone during the day anymore if Alastair is going to keep tracking him down.”

“In a worst case scenario, if we do have to leave them on, we can keep the GPS on their phones on, or ask Chuck if there is a way to track them down when they are out on their own.” Dean nodded in agreement to Sam's words before sighing.

“All I know for sure is that when I think about him hurting Cas or Gabe and then probably selling them to some freak...It makes me want to kill him.” He stated, looking back through the glass to see how they were doing. What he really didn't expect to see was Castiel and Gabriel's detached forearms laying on the table. “What are you doing?” He asked, quickly going into the room to make sure he wasn't just hurting them.

“I'm doing what you asked me to.” Kevin pointed out, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked up at Dean.

“Okay, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't having their arm ripped off supposed to, I don't know, really fucking hurt?” Kevin shook his head, motioning to the cords that were plugged into Castiel and Gabriel. The angels looked like they were in a peaceful sleep, despite missing a fairly important part of their body and that worried Dean more. “Okay, so what? Shouldn't they still be in immense pain?”

“No, it's like being sedated. They won't even know that it ever happened.” He replied as he began working on fixing the blood filled layer first. Dean and Sam watched as he fixed everything, leaving nothing behind except for a very thin scar where the silicone reattached. “That should be it.” He mumbled, making sure that everything was back to working before he reattached the limbs by the machine screwing them back into place before Kevin used the silicone gel to fill in the spaces where they went in and where the arm attached to make it look like it had never come off in the first place.

“And you're just an intern?” Sam asked, more than a little surprised by how good of a job he could already do at his age.

“Yeah, of course. I took a lot of Advanced Placement robotics and design classes, so it wasn't too hard to start an internship here.” He replied with a shrug. “Chuck is teaching me everything he can too, so I do know a lot by now. I'm going to start helping in designing android lines someday.”

Sam nodded, glad to see that he was so motivated and was great at what he wanted to do. “Yeah, well, I can't wait to see what you come up with.” He smiled at him before looking back at the unconscious androids. “So how exactly do we wake them up again?”

“I just have to stop the program putting them in sleep mode and you'll be able to wake them up.” He replied, going to the computer and typing in a few things before he carefully disconnected them from the wiring.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows and went to Castiel's side before shaking him awake. “Cas?” He asked until Castiel slowly opened his eyes and looked up at him curiously.

“Yes, Dean?” He asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Are you alright?” Dean asked, glancing back down at his arm to make sure there wasn't any lasting damage.

“Yes, of course I am. Why?” He asked curiously.

“Move your arm.” He stated. While after everything he saw, he knew that the Kevin kid probably really knew what he was doing, but he just wanted to make sure that Castiel still could really still move his arm. Castiel furrowed his eyebrows before he began to move his arm again, slowly moving his hand into a fist before opening it again. Dean sighed in relief at that and helped him up as Sam got Gabriel coherent and moving again. “Uh, hey, um. One more thing, Kevin. We got these out of them, do you think you can have Chuck look them over when he gets back and tell him to get back to us?” He asked, setting the bags with the microchips on the counter.

“Yeah, of course.” Kevin replied, turning off the computer he was working on before he glanced at them. “Anything else?”

“No, that should be it. Thanks again for all your help.” Sam smiled at him, gently pushing Gabriel towards the door as Dean led Castiel out.

“Don't worry about it, just take good care of them. They're one of a kind.” He replied.

Sam nodded slowly at that, really starting to get a grip on just how true that really was about the androids. Every time he thought that he fully understood just how special they were, they seemed to make a habit of exceeding his expectations.


	8. We Need To Talk

Castiel and Gabriel went back to having to spend time in the laboratory with Chuck and Kevin, the intern, but soon once they were finished with quick testing and wanted to go exploring, they left the lab so that the could get a look at the rest of the building. After a while of exploring, the androids managed to get into the Hunter's wing, wanting to see what exactly Sam and Dean would do throughout the day while they were working. Dean and Sam on the other hand, just got to Chuck's office after he had called them up to discuss the test results he had just received.

“Hey Chuck, so what did you find out about the chips?” Sam asked curiously, just wanting to know what had been going on with them.

“They're definitely Demon chips, and I figured out that the main objective of the chip is to interrupt their processing and it slowly works at slowing it down and interrupting their thoughts so it eventually just shuts them down.”

“So, pretty much, they wanted to make it easier to take over the androids?” Dean asked, raising and eyebrows as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“That's exactly it. If they can't move and there isn't a chance of them waking up, it would make the whole process of rerouting their wiring and their basic functioning.” Chuck replied with a sigh. “As long as they don't know where exactly Castiel and Gabriel are located, then they should be safe for now, but you still should take some safety precautions.”

“Like what?”

“Well, keeping them here has been working, but do you really want to keep them here forever? They weren't created to just sit in a lab for the entire time they run.”

“Yeah, I know that, but I want them to be safe.” Dean stated.

“Maybe you can teach them how to take care of themselves then. They are very intelligent learning software, you know.”

Dean and Sam exchanged looks, wondering why they had never considered that option. “That's actually a great idea, thanks Chuck. We'll call you later if anything else strange happens.” Sam replied before leading Dean back down so they could find out where in the building Castiel and Gabriel had gone.

When Castiel and Gabriel got to the main office, they first spotted Anna sitting by a desk while the other Hunters went around and did their different jobs for the day. “Hello again, Anna.” Castiel said softly as he sat down beside her. Anna had her head tilted, staring off into space and mumbling under her breath before she blinked and looked up at Castiel.

“Did you say something?” She asked softly as sat up a little straighter before she began writing something down.

“I only said hello. Are you alright, Anna?”

“Oh, well, hello again. Yes, I'm fine...I was only listening. You're Castiel and Gabriel right?”

“That's right.” Castiel said softly.

“What are the two of you doing in here? Did Sam and Dean bring you here?”

“Technically, yes. They brought us to the building, but then they left us up in the lab and we want to explore, so we've been looking over the places that we haven't been to.” Gabriel replied, plopping himself down in a chair and leaning back. “Do you know where they are?”

Anna nodded, quickly typing on the flat tablet board that took up half of her desktop. “Yes, they just barely left to go upstairs to talk with Chuck. They should be back soon, if you want to wait.”

“Nah, we'll just catch up to them later. Thank you though. So what were you listening to?”

“I was just tuning in to the scanner again to see if there were any new developments on our cases. Excuse me, but I need to get this to someone.” She said softly as she printed from it and got to her feet so she could head off.

“I wonder if she is always like that.” Gabriel noted with a smile.

“She's always spacing out about something. She's always tuning in to the different frequencies.” A man spoke up behind them. Castiel and Gabriel looked back at the ebony skinned man, seeing him standing over them.

“So she's like a police scanner?”

“Basically. My name is Uriel, by the way. The two of you don't look like Hunters, so why are you in these offices?”

“Well, Uriel.” Gabriel started, looking him over. “Our clearance allows us to be back here, since we're prototypes that the Winchesters are looking after.” He stated, causing the other man to scoff.

“Winchesters, huh? There's always something popping up about those two.” He mumbled, shaking his head. “Well, prototypes, I'm an android specializing in fighting, so it isn't that impressive for you to be a new android. There doesn't seem to be anything that special about you, other than looking like a pretty face, so maybe you are just love toys.”

“Excuse me?” Gabriel asked, raising his eyebrows. “Are you kidding me right now? Did they build you in with a giant stick up your ass, or did you just install it yourself?”

Uriel chuckled at that, watching Gabriel in amusement. “It looks like you really do belong with the Winchesters, Firecracker.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Gabriel asked, balling his hands in his fists and resiting the urge to punch him.

“Nothing, nothing. Have a nice day, prototype.” He replied, smiling at the two of them before he turned around to take his leave and go back to his work.

“Well that was eventful.” Gabriel replied, watching him go before he relaxed and turned to Castiel. “Come on, Cas. Let's go check out the rest of the place. Maybe if we're lucky, Sam and Dean will take us out to lunch and maybe dessert.” He replied, winking at Castiel as they headed out to the lobby area. 

“I doubt that.” Castiel said softly, looking away from him. Gabriel furrowed his eyebrows at that look on his face, crossing his arms over his chest.

"So has Dean even talked to you? You said that he kissed you a while back, has he said anything about it?" Gabriel asked, flipping through some magazines.

"He said that we aren't supposed talk about it." Castiel replied, tugging at loose string on his trench coat.

Gabriel paused at that, raising his eyebrows and staring at Castiel in disbelief. "He didn't."

"He did." He said softly, not looking up at Gabriel. 

"Do you want me to talk to him? Maybe I can get a few punches in." He stated as Castiel began to quickly shake his head.

"Please don't. If he doesn't like me that much, then there is nothing I can do about it." He said softly, even though it still hurt a little.

"No, if he kissed you and comes up with some dickhead excuse like that, then he deserves a few hits. It's rude and you don't deserve that sort of treatment. Just because we technically aren't human doesn't mean that we can't feel anything." Gabriel pointed out, more than ready to go the the Hunter offices and give Dean a piece of his mind when he returned.

"It doesn't matter, Gabriel." He said softly, not going to really other with it if Dean didn't want to.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Cas. It matters and you know it, okay? I'm not just gonna let you suffer for this all because he's being an asshole." Castiel shrugged his shoulders before he noticed Dean across the lobby, talking to one of the receptionists.

Dean was smiling widely at her as he leaned against the desk, the receptionist tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear as she smiled back at him and laughed about something he said. Gabriel narrowed his eyes, glancing back at Castiel and saw how hurt he looked before he glanced back at Dean and the woman.

"I'm gonna go tell him off, Cas. If he is gonna go around and hit on anything that moves, then maybe he should find something other than an object who can hit back."

"Gabriel, just leave it." Castiel said quietly as he got to his feet.

"No, Cas. Can I please just go and knock him out?" Gabriel groaned as Castiel shook his head.

"I guess that I'm just going to go the center to go swimming." He said quietly before he quickly took off through the main doors. Gabriel narrowed his eyes, looking back at Dean. He was so tempted to just go over and knock some sense into him.

"Gabe?" He glanced back at Sam, seeing him coming towards him.

"What's up? Did you guys get bored or something? Because I see Dean's found something to entertain himself with." He stated with a roll of his eyes as he nodded back over to where Dean was.

"Yeah, don't worry about him. Are you okay? I mean, how's the arm?" Sam asked, getting to the point.

"It's fine. It's not bugging me. Did you find out anything about the chip?"

"Yeah, it was definitely Demon technology and it was working on blocking out some of your programming so that you wouldn't be able to function correctly." Sam explained, running his finger over the mark where it had been.

"So pretty much, if it was still inside of me, I would break?"

"That's right, so Dean and I are going to teach you guys how to defend yourselves in case anything happens when you guys aren't around."

"Really? Dean too? Because to me, it like he's pretty busy." He stated, raising an eyebrow as he glanced back and watched Dean hit on the receptionist.

"Yeah, Dean and Lisa had a thing a while back."

"A while back? Are you sure it's not now? Because it sure looks like 'the flames of passion' are still in full heat." He stated, raising his eyebrow.  
“At this rate, I'm not sure I even want to know.”

“He hurt Cas.” Gabriel said softly, rubbing the mark on his arm and staring down at it.

“What do you mean by that?” Sam asked, frowning and glancing back at his brother.

“Not physically anyways, but he hurt Cas emotionally. Dean kisses Cas, Cas likes Dean. Dean ignores Castiel's like for him and flirts with random chick. That's pretty much what's been going on lately.” Gabriel explained simply, shrugging his shoulders and looking up at him.

Sam nodded slowly at that, sighing a little. “As much as I hate to say it, that's what he does. He's not big on relationships and just focuses on the physical aspects.”

“Well that's healthy.” Gabriel stated flatly as he plopped down on the chair again.

“Are you doing okay?” Sam asked, kneeling down beside him.

“Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to stay here and read a while. I may come down and check on you in a little bit when I get bored.” He replied, smiling at him.

“Alright, I'll see you in a little while.” Sam smiled back, kissing his head before he headed back down to the Hunter's area. Gabriel waved back at him, turning on his tablet so he could entertain himself. 

 

It wasn't long before Dean was finished with talking to Lisa and said his goodbyes before he looked around to see if Castiel and Gabriel were still in the lobby. He didn't see Castiel anywhere, but when he spotted Gabriel in the lobby chair, he headed over to him and took a quick look around again. "Gabriel, do you know where Castiel is? I need to talk to him." Dean asked the android when he got over to him.

"He just went swimming. Although, I think that you are better off just staying away from now. He wants some alone time." Gabriel stated and Dean frowned a little at that.

“Why? What happened?”

“You'll find out.” Gabriel replied with a shrug, glancing up at him for a moment before he looked back down at the movie he was watching.

“Fine, then I guess I'll just see you later.”

“Good luck, you're gonna need it.” Gabriel replied, not looking back up at him as Dean's frowned deepened. He shook his head, heading out to go to the exercise center to go find Castiel.

 

When he got to the swimming area of the center, he found Castiel swimming laps under the water and went to go sit down at the edge. Castiel noticed the set of legs before he could touch the wall, resurfacing so he could look up at Dean. “What's going on, Dean?” He asked softly, folding his arms to rest on the edge of the pool.

“I heard that you were upset about something.” Dean said softly before Castiel quickly shook his head.

“Don't worry about it.” The android said simply.

“Are you sure, Cas?” He asked, only for Castiel to shake his head again.

“Okay...Well, we found that the chip in your arm was Demon technology and that's why you were feeling so weird. You don't feel like that anymore, do you?”

“Not really. Not since we took it out.” He said softly, not going to bother with telling him about his visions and nightmare yet since he didn't feel that it was entirely necessary.

“So, about the Demons. I know that they must really want you and that they are trying to get their hands on you. And I'm guessing that in the lab, they never really showed you how exactly you need to defend yourself, did they?”

“No, we weren't created to fight, so we never really needed to know.”

“Well, now you're going to learn. I don't want anything to happen to you just because you don't even know how to defend yourself when I can easily teach you.”

“I don't want to learn.” Castiel stated, pulling away from the edge and frowning up at him.

“Why are you getting angry? All I'm saying is that it will be good for you to learn how to take care of yourself. It's not a big deal and it just means that I may be able to leave you at home again. I just want to know that you're safe when you aren't with me.”

“Why do you care?” Castiel mumbled as he turned away from him so that he could ignore this conversation.

"Cas, I know that you're angry at me, but you need to know how to defend yourself better when I'm not around." Dean stated crossing his arms over his chest impatiently as he watched the stubborn android in the pool. “What's wrong with you?”

"No. I'm not going to do this." Castiel stated, scowling up at Dean before turning and pushing away from the wall of the pool so that he could have a boost to swim towards the other side to get away from this conversation and away from Dean.

"Castiel!" Dean groaned, walking around to the other side of the pool. "What's your problem today?"

"I don't want to have to fight, Dean." The dark haired android replied, folding his arms on the edge of the pool as he kept his gaze off of him. “And I don't want to talk.”

"I know that you don't want to fight, Cas, but you need to realize that if you don't learn how to defend yourself and if the Demons actually take you, the first thing they are going to do is force a fighting mentality into your head. Now do you wanna learn how to do it to protect yourself or have it forced in so you hurt others, mainly innocent people?"

Castiel frowned and went underneath the water before he swam off. Dean sighed in frustration and threw Castiel's towel to the ground as he watched the stubborn android move underwater. Castiel climbed up on the other side of the pool before he began climbing up the platforms since he knew that Dean would never go up there with his hatred of heights playing against him.

"Castiel!" Dean shouted after him, more than a little annoyed by the way he was acting right now.

Castiel frowned down at down before he remembered what Gabriel would do in this situation and stuck his tongue out at him as he continued to make his way to the top of the second platform. He ignored the sounds of Dean's anger, standing at the top of the platform and staring at the water thirty feet below his feet.

 _You're going to be shut down._ Castiel jolted, his back straightening and his jaw tightening. He balled his hands into fists, furrowing his eyebrows and keeping his eyes open.

 _Come on, Castiel, we're going out today._ The android's eyes dulled at the sound of a woman's voice, his body staying tense as the visions started up again.

The images began to flash through his mind again in a blur, not giving Castiel as chance to process them.

Dean watched from below, seeing the android just stand there for a few long moments before he leaned forwards and started to fall. Castiel dropped head first, his arms outwards by his head as plummeted towards the water. 

The sound of the slap of Castiel's back hitting the water made Dean wince and think to himself that this is why he thought practicing divers who had to hit like that over and over were nuts.

The scenery of the visions suddenly changed and Castiel's senses were filled with water. Unlike the swimming pool that he was submerged in, he was in a case of some sort with wires attached to him all over his body. Castiel looked at his hands floating in front of him, blurred by the water before he tried to look around and only saw machines. He frantically began trying to get out of the case, ramming his arms against the sides as he screamed out but the bubbles leaving his lips only blocked out his cry for help. He felt an arm tighten around his waist and the vision blacked out before a new one began.

 _He's responding to the treatments? Good. We'll be able to move onto the next step and test his interactions with the world. Tag him as Castiel-01._ He heard a voice say softly, still feeling his back submerged in the water. _How are his responses though? Have you tested him?...Then I'll do it. Project Castiel, open your eyes._

Castiel opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the pool area. He blinked slowly before he was filled with a sense of dread and began quickly writhing and splashing the water around himself as he tried to get out of the pool as fast as he could. 

"Cas? Cas, can you hear me? What's going on? Cas! I'm here, calm down!" He heard Dean's frantic voice quickly stopped before he turned his head to look up at him.

"Dean?"

"Okay, thank God. You hit really hard and I almost thought you drowned. Why are you freaking out? Are you hurt?"

"I don't think I can drown Dean." Castiel said softly, furrowing his eyebrows before looking up at Dean. "What happened?"

"You just dropped down from the fucking platforms and landed on your back."

Castiel frowned a little at that before he thought about the vision of being trapped in the water and pulled away so he could quickly get out of the pool. 

"Cas, hey! What's going on with you?" Dean demanded for an answer this time as he followed him back.

"Don't put me back in the water." Castiel said softly after Dean climbed out, sitting with his knees pulled to his chest.

"What do you mean by that? Cas, what happened?"

"Don't put me back in the water." He repeated, hugging his knees tighter as he stared at the pool.

"Okay....I won't then." Dean furrowed his eyebrows, going to have to ask Chuck about this. He didn't understand what was going on with Castiel. One moment he loved swimming, and then the next...it was almost as if he was completely terrified of it.

 

When Castiel went into the lockers to go change back into his clothes, Dean took the chance to call Chuck to check in with him.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Chuck this is Dean. Listen, Castiel keeps having these episodes where he just freezes. He stopped for a while, but then he just had one and fell off one of the platforms. You said not to really worry about it if he starts moving again on his own, but he started freaking out when he woke up in the pool and he usually is all for swimming.”

“Uh, well that is strange. I'll have to look him over in the morning if you bring him in. Did he get injured?”

“No, he's just a little red from hitting water, but other than that he is fine physically.”

“Alright, I'll see if I can find out what's triggering these freezes tomorrow. Just keep an eye on him.

“Alright, Thanks.” Dean replied before he hung up.

Chuck set the phone down before sighing as he looked up at the man sitting on his desk. “How was that, Zachariah?” He asked softly.

“That was perfect, Charles. The Winchesters don't need to know too much about the backgrounds of these androids, don't you think? It doesn't really concern them, and some of this stuff is on a need to know basis and I don't really think that they need to know everything about them and their programming. Don't you agree? I mean, it's not like they're going to permanently keep them anyways.” 

“I guess so.” Chuck mumbled, just wanting the androids to be okay and for the Winchesters to be able to take full care of them.

“So, remember if the Winchesters get too curious, I want you to tell me right away. The people upstairs, well they've been keeping an eye on our new projects, and if anything happens to them, well, we don't want the Winchesters knowing everything and getting them into even more trouble than necessary.”

Chuck nodded again, not looking up at him. “Yes, Sir. And I know, if anyone asks, you didn't tell me anything.” He mumbled, not wanting to have to talk about his visits anyways if he could help it.

“Good, hopefully I won't have to come back down here too soon then. Keep up your work, and I'll keep up on mine.” Zachariah stated before he got to his feet and left Chuck alone again.


	9. Angel Halo

Sam and Dean had asked Bobby if they knew anyone who could help with the problems they had been having with Castiel and Gabriel freezing up at times and it took just under a few days for him to get back to the brothers. He gave them a card for his friend, a therapist who specialized in dream work and helping with other memories. They called Pamela the next day and told them about their situation to see if they could help before she made an appointment for the androids to come in the following Tuesday one at a time so she could examine them. When they got to the office, they were greeted with a woman in a leather jacket and a band shirt.

“Are you the Winchesters?” She asked.

“Yeah...Pamela?” Dean asked, looking her over. When he thought of therapist, this really wasn't what he pictured. He didn't mind her appearance whatsoever by any means.

“That's me. So, this is Castiel?” She asked as she looked over the androids.

“That's right.” Dean piped up, looking around for a moment before Pamela nodded and motioned for them to follow her back.

“Right this way then, let's get you guys all started then.” She replied as she led the way to the back room where there were a few different machines, some chairs, and in the center of the floor was a small pool.

“What is the pool for?” Sam asked curiously as they walked around it to take their seats a few feet away from the water.

“It helps in the sleep therapy that I do. It gives them a nice place to relax in for when I start them off.”

“Are you going to use it on Castiel and Gabriel?”

“That's right. I'll be starting Castiel off of it, since you said that he had been having some problems lately that you haven't been able to figure out. Castiel, I'll need to to take these...” She started, going over to her cabinets to get out some white scrubs before she handed them to the dark haired android. “And go get changed so that we can get you started.”

Castiel nodded slowly at that as she pointed out where the bathroom was before he headed over to it and went in to change into the scrubs. Dean watched him go before he looked back at Pamela.

“So you'll be able to see what's been going on inside his head?”

Pamela nodded at that as she pulled one of the computers on the stand closed to the pool. “More or less. This will show us what he's been seeing when he freezes up.” She said softly, setting some towels beside the pool as Castiel returned. “Are you all ready, Castiel?” She asked the android.

“Yes, I am. What all do you need for me to do?” He asked her as he headed over to her. Pamela didn't respond at first, attaching the self-adhering electrodes to his temples before she moved the plate behind his ear to plug some cords into him.

“Now I just need for you to get into the pool for me and take it easy so we can get it started.” She said softly before Dean helped him with getting into the water.

Castiel slowly submerged himself in the pool until he was laying in the water up to his neck, biting his lip as he watched Dean.

"You'll be okay." Dean said softly, trying to help him feel just a little bit better about what was going on.

Castiel nodded as Pamela plugged the cords in behind his ear into the computer before she began working on a monitor above the tub.

"Everything all right down there, Castiel?" She asked, typing in some things quickly onto the keyboard that detached from the side of the monitor. "You feeling nice and calm?"

Castiel took a slow breath, closing his eyes for a moment before nodded. "Yes, ma'am." He said softly once his initial nerves had faded away.

"Okay, Castiel, I need you to fully lay down, calm your body and relax. Close your eyes and breathe I'm through your nose and out through your mouth." She instructed as she kneel down beside him. Castiel lowered until everything but his face was in the water, slowly letting go of the edges and letting his hands slowly fall to his sides. Castiel closed his eyes and began to breathe the way that she had instructed for him to do. He could feel something slowly flowing into his veins and his brain coming from the machine he was attached to. The feeling helped him with relaxing and made him feel like he was floating in the ocean instead of a simple tub. 

"I'm going to count down from three, and when I get to three, you will fall into a deep sleep. All you will feel is like you are floating so just focus on that peaceful feeling.." She said softly, typing in onto the keyboard again before she set it aside. "Three...Two...One..." She whispered, watching as Castiel slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

She waited a few moments before turning her screen on again.

"Alright, Castiel, take me back to the other day when you fell off the diving platforms. I want you to show me what you saw when you fell." She said softly as she typed on the keyboard and looked up at the screen. A visual finally showed up on the screen and at first the image was blurry before it slowly began to focus.

"What is that?" Dean asked softly as he moved closer to see it better, furrowing his eyebrows when he mostly saw two arms floating in the water. Castiel's arms.

Pamela shushed him, watching as Castiel's hands slowly balled into loose fists on screen before he looked around the see the machines keeping the tank running. Bubbles began to fill his vision when the android began to scream out in the water as his hands frantically went to the sides, only to be stopped by thick glass as he writhed as he struggled to get out from the water filled chamber. The sounds of muffled voices came from the other side of the glass and it was impossible to make it out as Castiel tried his hardest to get through the glass. The memory soon blacked out and Pamela paused it before rewinding it a little.

Dean stayed quiet for a few moments before he frowned and looked over at Bobby's friend. "Okay, now do you mind telling me what that was?"

"Judging by all of that outside of the tank right there..." She started as she paused the screen and motioned to all of the equipment. "He's in what they nicknamed 'The Birthing Room'. It's where they keep the new lines until they're ready to be started up and tested. Castiel here...I think he's remembering the first time he woke up." Pamela said softly as she glanced over at the android in the tub, wondering just why he would be thinking of something like that of all things.

"Do they normally remember that sort of thing?" Sam asked curiously, wondering about the fear that Castiel seemed to have when he woke up..

"Usually yes, but they don't really focus on it to where something like this happens." Pamela replied as she got to her feet and went to the screen before typing something into it. She copied Castiel's dreams onto a disc so that she would be able to go through the rest later before she set it down on her desk. The therapist went back to Castiel's side before she typed in a few more buttons to show some of the other times Castiel froze up.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows, watching as multiple images flashed through the screen quickly in a blur of bright colors that hurt eyes a little the longer he stared. He could hear Castiel's fast breathing through the speakers before it suddenly stopped. Dean slowly found himself leaning closer to the screen to see if he could figure out what was going on but quickly regretted it when the deafening sound of a woman screaming the android's name erupted through them. 

Dean jumped at the sound of the scream, stepping back and cursing under his breath. "What the hell was that?"

"I think it was one of his nightmares." Pamela mumbled as she looked over at the android in the water. She started to wonder what she would find the deeper she dug through his memories and dreams.

“So what exactly can you tell us about what we've seen so far? Have you figured out anything yet?” Sam asked curiously as he looked over at Bobby's friend. Pamela got to her feet and glanced back at him for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, I'm going to be reviewing everything that I have gotten from Castiel, and then Gabriel, tonight and I can give you a call as soon as I find anything out.” She replied, glancing back over at him before she looked away to write something down on her notes. “If either of them freeze up again, I would like for you to call me right away so that I can help with seeing what's going on with them.”

Dean nodded at that, not minding that at all if it would help them get closer to finding out what was going on with the strange androids. “Is there anything else you would like to do with Castiel while he is under?”

Pamela thought about it before she shook her head. “Just bring him back next Thursday and I will let you know if I find out anything else. Bring him at five and I'll see Gabriel at six.” She replied as she typed the code on the side of the screen to wake the sleeping android. Castiel slowly opened his eyes before he sat up and looked around.

“How are you feeling, Castiel?” Pamela asked as she kneel down beside him to look him over and make sure that he was fully awake and perfectly fine.

“Well rested.” He murmured as he rubbed his eyes before he began to slowly look around the room. “Did everything go well?”

“Yes, they went very well.” Pamela smiled widely at him as she pat his back. “You did a very nice job. You just need to make sure you dry off enough and get changed.” She replied as she helped him up before passing him the towel. “Just get changed and Dean and Sam here will get you home. You'll feel tired for about an hour or so, but that's perfectly normal just take it easy and you'll be okay in no time.” She smiled as she helped get him to the bathroom.

“And you're sure he'll be fine?” Dean asked, not fully liking just how out of it Castiel was right now.

“You know when you go to the dentist and they give you that happy gas and it makes you really groggy during and afterward? That's basically what's going on with him. It'll get a little better the more often he does it but he'll be fine.” She replied with a shrug of her shoulders before she tossed the towels into a hamper, along with Castiel's wet clothes once he had returned.

 

The following week, Pamela had decided that perhaps it would be best to spend a session with the androids together instead of just one hour with one at a time.

For this session, instead of collecting only Castiel and Gabriel's dreams, she went through some of the things that recent memories that they seemed to have no recollection off. When Dean saw the video of Alastair touching Castiel and implanting the chip when they went to the mall, he could feel his blood nearly begin to boil. So the asshole really had been following the prototypes, and by the looks of it, he seemed determined that he was going to get his hands on at least one of them. 

All Dean really wanted to do was to wipe that smug smile off of his face and make sure that he could never lay a finger on anyone ever again.

 

On the way back to the house, Castiel glanced over at Dean and noticed how tense he looked. He studied the way that Dean would continuously tighten his fingers on the smooth leather of the steering wheel before he'd forced himself to relax them.

"Dean, can I ask you something?" He asked softly, still pretty tired from the therapy.

"What's up?" The human asked, glancing over at him. “Are you feeling alright? Do you feel sick or something?”

"No, I feel alright. I just need some rest.” He murmured before getting to his question. “I understand that the Demons are bad and not to be trusted, but can I ask you why you seem to hate this Alastair so much? I'm just trying to understand this personal vendetta that you have with him, because it feels different than the hatred you have against his group that comes with being a Hunter."

"That's because Alastair is nothing but a snake, Cas. When we get home, I am going to start teaching you how to defend yourself and we aren't going to argue about this again. He's poison, and that's what you need to remember. If he gets the chance, he will tear you apart piece by piece and he will take his time to find out everything that makes you tick." He stated first before sighing. "Back when I joined up to be a hunter, we had to go through all the different levels of training. Alastair was one of my combat instructors, and he wasn't easy in any sense of the word. Even so, I trained hard and followed all of his instructions and I became his star student. Grew to like the guy even though some days I just wanted to beat his face in from how hard he worked me. Then one day...He just went nuts and well, a lot of people got hurt or killed because of him.” He mumbled, no wanting to go into further detail right now. “That's why the next time you see him, and he tries to take you, I want to make sure that you can make it impossible for him to even try it.”  
Castiel nodded slowly at that, contemplating the pros and cons of it before he sighed lightly. “If you believe that it is for the best, I would like to learn. If this man really has done so many terrible things, then I do not mind helping you make sure that he does not continue to hurt others.” He replied, wishing that he could know more about what had happened. Maybe he could ask Sam about it later when Dean was busy... 

Back at the house, Gabriel was going through his closet and was humming lightly to himself as he tried to put together a decent outfit. Sam leaned against the door and watched him for a moment, wondering what he was up to. 

“Are you planning something?” He asked after a few moments of watching him.

“Yeah, well...You know that Balthazar guy Cas and I have been hanging out with? He wants me to go clubbing with him tonight and I thought that it would be pretty awesome, y'know? He wants to meet at this club that's doing this 2000's night sort of retro thing. It's supposed to be really awesome and he thought that I would have a good time doing it. We both know Cas isn't really one for parties and stuff and this one is supposed to be crazy. I should be home at around two, and if anything happens then I can just call you.” He smiled a little at him. “It shouldn't be too bad though, just drinking and blasting things like Pendulum, Ke$ha, Britney Spears...All that danceable music from way back then.” He snickered as he waved his hand.

Sam thought about the pros and cons of his plan before he nodded slowly. “If anything whatsoever happens at all, you let me know right away.”

“Will do, and the club is close by so you won't have to worry about me too much. If I don't like it, I'll just come home.” He replied with a shrug as he picked out something decent before he put some glow in the dark earrings and barbells in his ears.

“Thanks for that. Just be careful and keep your GPS on.” He replied before he let him get finished.

“Will do.” Gabriel called after him before he changed into his jeans, white winged shoes, and a old Pac-man shirt. “I look pretty 2000's.” He snickered as he headed over to Sam. “I'll be back later, try not to worry too much. You'll look like you're forty by the time you're thirty.” He winked at him before he headed out with Balthazar.

 

Later that night, while Castiel and the Winchesters were watching TV before bed, the phone began to ring. Dean glanced over the the phone, furrowing his eyebrows. Sam's first instinct was that perhaps Gabriel was in trouble already and he got to his feet, going to the kitchen before he answered the phone after he saw Pamela's picture on the ID screen.

“Pamela?”

“Hey, Sam. So I think I may have found something. Can you and Dean come in tomorrow morning? Alone. I need you to leave Castiel and Gabriel at the house.” She got right to the point, not wanting to really waste any time with small talk. “I think I have a theory of what may be going on with Gabriel and Castiel and I wanna talk to you about it in person.” Sam furrowed his eyebrows at that as he looked back at the living room.

“Yeah, I'm sure that we can figure something out but yeah, we will be there to meet with you in the morning. Is nine alright?” He asked, writing it down on the electronic notepad attached to the phone.

“Yeah, that's fine. I'll talk to you when you get here. Have a good night.” She replied before hanging up. Sam pressed a few buttons on the bottom of the note pad before he ran his finger across the bottom, putting the appointment notification on his phone's calender. He headed over to the edge of the living room, motioning Dean over when he got his attention.

“What's going on?” His elder brother asked quietly as he went over to him.

“Pamela wants to meet with us tomorrow, alone. She thinks she has a theory that she wants to talk to us about.” Dean furrowed his eyebrows at that before he nodded slowly.

“Alright. What time do we need to meet her?”

“At nine in the morning.” Dean sighed a little at that before he crossed his arms over his chest.

“And she didn't give you any hint to what she wanted to talk about? I mean, besides it just being a theory.”

“No, I guess whatever she wants to tell us, she's just going to wait until tomorrow to say it all.” He said with a shrug before he heard the door open, followed by someone talking.

Dean recognized one of the voices as that guy that kissed Castiel, so he knew that Gabriel had to be back. Sam furrowed his eyebrows as he looked over, seeing Balthazar with Gabriel's arm around his shoulders as the blonde led him to the couch. Gabriel was wearing sunglasses and had a wide smile on his face as he looked around.

“What's wrong?” Sam asked with a frown as he headed over to them, before he noticed that Gabriel's wristband was glowing bright blue. “What does the blue mean?” He asked, since he knew that clear was sober and bright red was intoxicated. He didn't think that it lit up any other color.

“Blue is for A.H.” Balthazar said with a shrug and that caused Dean's distaste for this guy to increase.

“And how in the hell did he get his hands on that?” He demanded as Castiel furrowed his eyebrows.

“A.H.?” He asked curiously, not understanding what on earth that could be.

Balthazar dropped Gabriel on the couch, smiling a little as Gabriel sprawled out on it and snickered as he rubbed the fabric. “One sec and I'll show you.” He replied to the other android as he headed over to the lights and dimmed them before going back to Gabriel so he could take his sunglasses off. A ring of bright white with a ring of turquoise right around the black of his pupils lit up Gabriel's amber eyes, glowing in the dim light. “A.H., Cassy, stands for 'Angel's Halo'.” He added as he looked back at him.

“Why would you give him that?” Sam asked, really not going to let Gabriel go out with him any more if he was going to give him things.

“Angel Halo is a drug for androids, hence the name.” Balthazar said to Castiel, ignoring the anger coming from the two humans. “It's like LSD, but legal since we're not human.” He snorted before patting Gabriel's shoulder. “You just get some rest, you had a busy night.” He said softly before he ruffled his hair and let himself out before the humans could get violent as Gabriel just laughed.

“Wow! This place has everything.” Gabriel snickered to himself as he made himself comfortable on the couch. Sam sighed and went over to him, going to have to stay up with him until he finally crashed.

“Castiel, if that guy ever offers you anything, you just walk away.” Dean mumbled, having even more reasons to really not like their new friend. He knew they'd have to mention it to Pamela next time she scanned his mind so that they could make sure that all of Gabriel's partying was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHH I'M SO SORRY FOR THE HELLATUS. I KEEP GETTING FAMILY VISITS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND JUST STARTED A NEW JOB. THANK YOU ALL WHO ARE STICKING WITH THIS AND STICKING WITH ME BEING A TERRIBLE UPDATER. 
> 
> SO HERE IS THIS THING I DREW TODAY TO SHOW WHAT ANGEL'S HALO LOOKS LIKE IN GABRIEL:  
> [](http://imgur.com/rlo4B7E)


	10. Eve

It had taken Sam several hours to get Gabriel to finally crash after all of the Angel's Halo had given him the mass amount of energy. Before Sam and Dean needed to leave, Sam checked on him again and saw that he was still face down in bed, completely dead to the world around him. Sam couldn't help but wonder if a full force earthquake would even have the ability to wake him. He told Castiel to keep an eye on him, since Castiel was up and wandering around.

“Where are you guys going?” He asked curiously, cocking his head as he made himself a cup of coffee. He didn't necessarily need drink it, he was just acquiring a bit of a taste for it since Dean had let him try it a few weeks back.

“We have to go and meet with a friend for a moment, but we should be back soon. You know the rules, don't let anyone in the house without checking in with us first to let us know who it is, understand?” He asked Castiel, going to tell him this every single time that they needed to go out.

“Yes, Dean, I understand.” Castiel told him, watching him set up the alarm system on the house as he sipped his coffee. “If anything were to happen, Gabriel and I will get out of the house and call you.” He added, to help him feel a bit better.

“Good, we should be back soon.” He replied, grabbing his car keys and motioning for Sam to follow him out of the house.

When they got to Pamela's office, she was just unlocking the door. “Morning, guys.” She greeted them, motioning them inside and looking around as they headed inside before she locked the door behind them.

“Is everything alright?” She looked back at Sam before nodding.

“Yeah, everything's fine, just go to the backroom and I'll be there in a minute.” She replied, motioning them to the backroom. Dean and Sam headed back to the room, wondering if everything really was alright.

Pamela soon entered the backroom before she shut the door behind her. “So this needs to stay between us, alright? Don't talk about this with any one you work with, and I wouldn't mention this to Castiel and Gabriel.” She stressed, looking between the Winchester boys to make sure they understood and agreed. 

“Okay, we won't. What's going on?” Dean asked, frowning as he leaned forwards and tried to think about what could be so important.

“So those images we've been seeing when I was showing you those memories? I don't think they're really memories.” She started as she leaned back in her chair.

“Well, if they aren't memories, then what are they?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Technically, for Castiel and Gabriel, they are sort of memories, but the point of it that they aren't real. The woman screaming, the flashes they get sometimes, they aren't real. Nearly everything else on the other hand was real.”

“So...Are they making them up?” Sam asked, trying to understand.

“I don't think they realize that they are making them up. Those 'memories' aren't really connected to anything in their system, unlike the other ones. It could be some sort of malfunction in their processing that's been causing them to glitch and freeze up.”

“So if they are really malfunctioning, why can't we bring them in to get them checked out?” Sam asked as he tried to make real sense of what she was trying to get at. He wasn't sure why they couldn't tell anyone if they were malfunctioning. Chuck was really trustworthy, after all, so this didn't make any sense to him. 

“Honestly, I think if you were to take them back in and tell them what was going on, they would shut them down.” She stated, causing the Winchesters to go completely silent. “It makes sense. They wouldn't want another Eve project to happen.” She started before carrying on, seeing the question on their faces. “I'm not going to go into too much detail, but way back before you guys were even thought of, there was a specific line called 'Eve'. The very first one belonged to a higher up in the company, and he loved her and got very close with her. Eventually, he was killed in some accident. I think it was a train crash. Well, his Eve android had began malfunctioning after his death. She began creating memories of him and her that had never happened and she slowly began to become worse until she finally lost a grip on what was real and what was not, and she broke protocols. Several people were killed before they could finally dismantle her and completely reprogram the line before they could release it. So if they even suspect that Castiel and Gabriel are becoming anything like that, they would be shut down right away.”

Dean felt his stomach churn at the thought of Castiel suddenly being gone forever. “We'll keep it to ourselves, but is there any way that we can fix them?” He stated quickly, trying to ignore the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach.

“I can keep seeing them and I'll see what I can do. Maybe I can just delete these and see if there is any way that we can fully stop it before it actually becomes a problem. I'd hate to see those two go when they have so much to offer. They're both incredible pieces of machinery.” She said softly, crossing one leg over the other as she sat back in her chair.

“How likely would it be to fix them?” Sam asked, leaning forwards and he held his hands together.

“The odds are in your favor. It will be like uninstalling a program.” She said honestly.

“But if you're 'uninstalling' their 'memories' wouldn't that do something to them?” Dean asked with a frown, wondering if it would change Castiel's personality in any way.

“I don't think it will, but I'll check before I start doing any of that.”

“If it's going to change them, then I don't want to do it. I'd rather have him the way he is, even with his freezing. He wouldn't really be Castiel if it changed his personality.” He pointed out. He didn't care if Castiel was perfect because none of them were perfect. Castiel was a prototype, so if the company saw errors in the way he ran, they could just write notes about it and use another android. They didn't need to change Castiel to make a 'better android' because to Dean, Castiel was already perfect. He was learning from everything around him, and he cared about those around him. Wasn't that all that mattered in an android to them anyways?

“I agree with Dean. I wouldn't feel right doing this if it were to completely change them. Unless it really helps them, then I wouldn't want to really risk it either. Is there anything you can do to help with their freezing that doesn't involve uninstalling pieces of them?” Sam asked softly and Pamela shrugged in response.

“I'm not sure, but I'll keep looking around to see what I can come up with. I'll call you when I figure something out, but until then, just keep bringing them to their appointments. I may as well keep track of everything that goes on with them, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?” Dean asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Well, just in case they do need to be dismantled.”

 

In the Winchester home, Castiel was working on taking care of the dishes from the night before as Gabriel slept through the day. He lost himself in his thoughts, but no matter what he tried to think of it would always come back to being about Dean.

Sometimes when he thought about Dean, he would feel a dull ache in his chest; Castiel wondered where this pain came from. If he wasn't human, could he still have the ability to have all the emotions that a human had? He adored Dean more than anything in the world, but he wasn't sure if he could really love him like another human could. He wasn't even sure if Dean could love an object, despite how special Castiel's unique programming had made him. He knew that there was something different about himself, and that he and Gabriel were different than the other units that he had met at the company building. He wasn't sure why they were different, but sometimes he wondered if it was a good thing.

Castiel of course realized that perhaps he was may not be entirely as real as a living human, but that perhaps that didn't necessarily mean that he could not feel. He was created to nearly be human, he was programmed to be perfect. Even if he was flawed and broken, did that not mean that he has the ability to choose? If he was to break in the morning and never wake again, he would not change a thing because he still would choose to be with Dean. He may not have as much free will as him or any other human, but he wanted to stay with the Winchesters.

He wondered why they put so much detail into making him if he was not a human. They had put so much pigmentation into his skin to make it look like it was normal and nearly sun-kissed. He wondered why they had sculpted him the way they had, perhaps it was to make him look more appealing? Perhaps it just made him appear more normal and lifelike since they had gone through the trouble to even add the occasional freckle on his chest.

Castiel knew that he would never be human, with all the machinery underneath his skin. He could feel the processors in his programming; the blood pumping through his artificial heart. He couldn't help but wonder what things would be like if he was different; if he was human. He winced when a sudden surge of pain coursed through his electric nerves and he lifted his hand from the warm and soapy water. Blood dripped from his fingertip, mixing in with the water below. If he was not human, then why did he bleed? If he was not real, then why did he feel? The blood dripping from the cut was real; the pain was real, so why wasn't he real? Perhaps this is why free will and free thinking was not allowed in most robots. They would begin to question what was and what was not real, and where they stood between the two very different categories.

As the crimson liquid continued to trickle from the cut, Castiel continued to question his existence. Why was he created to feel so much? Why was he designed to be perfect, only to turn out so flawed? He wondered if any other unit felt this way. He would converse with Gabriel about it every now and again, and he knew that he felt the same; only Gabriel didn't like to discuss it. Gabriel figured that if he was flawed and a mistake, then he may as well enjoy himself for as long as he could function. He didn't want to waste his time moping around if anything turned out to be truly wrong with him. He just wanted to keep everyone smiling and having a good time, even if he were to suffer deep down. Castiel agreed with that reasoning completely the more he thought about it. If his time with Dean was truly limited, then he didn't want to waste valuable time with him.

Castiel stared at his bloody finger and he couldn't help but wonder if that was a human way of thinking.

 

On the ride home, the car had been completely silent. Dean hadn't even bothered to play any of his usual songs to drown out the uncomfortable silence between the two of them. He didn't see the point. 

He didn't want to talk about the chance they had of losing Castiel and Gabriel; He didn't even want to think about it. He didn't understand why it would be so wrong if either of them were to be different. Wasn't that why they continued to make androids in the first place? To make them more human and advanced?He hated robots. He hated how human they had made Castiel; how real they had made him feel. He despised how much detail they had put into him. He hated the amount of focus Castiel would have in those bright azure eyes whenever he watched Dean.

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he thought about Castiel being taken back to the company and being shut down and taken apart. He deserved better than that. Castiel was different, he was unique. Castiel may have been a 

Dean was afraid of losing Castiel; he was afraid of him being shut down once and for all. He had to remind himself that Castiel was just a piece of machinery, a moving doll. He had to remind himself that there was no way he could keep him forever because Castiel wasn't his too keep. He was only a prototype, a testing dummy. As soon as the trial period was over, would Castiel be shut down?

What would the company do to him and Gabriel once they were no longer needed?

Once they got inside, Sam headed into his room to make sure that Gabriel was still alive and Dean headed to the kitchen when he heard the sounds of dishes clinging against each other. He leaned against the doorway, staying quiet as he watched Castiel slowly do the dishes one by one. Castiel was completely focused on the pan, making sure he got every bit off of the pan before he would set it aside and work on the next dish.

Dean had always wondered why Castiel preferred to do it all by hand rather than use the dishwasher. It was certainly faster and just as clean as doing it the manual way. That's when it hit Dean for the first time; Castiel preferred not to simply use other machinery because doing it by hand felt more human to him. Dean pushed aside all thoughts of what Pamela had told him and focused on the things he had noticed instead. This was real; They were real.

He felt his chest tighten and his jaw clench as he went over to Castiel, placing his hands on his shoulder and turning the android to face him. He didn't know what he could say to him that would help him feel better. Dean believed that he wasn't the best with words most of the time when he figured that actions usually spoke much better. He thought about that for a moment and as Castiel opened his mouth to ask Dean what was the matter, Dean took Castiel's face in his hands and pressed their lips together. He could feel the android tense up as he struggled to find a correct response, and that only made Dean kiss him harder.

He didn't want to let Castiel go; he refused to let them take him back. He wanted Castiel for himself and he didn't care if that was selfish. He knew that Castiel was happy here and that was all that mattered. He didn't want to stop holding him, and he hated just how soft and warm he had to be. Castiel was special and that was all that mattered to him. He was going to protect Castiel and make sure that no one could ever shut up down. He slowly pulled away, staring into Castiel's confused eyes and couldn't help but smile a little when he saw some relief in there as well.

“Dean...?” Castiel asked softly, not sure what to say in a situation like this. He was so confused by the kiss, yet he was also so happy to finally receive this sort of affection from one of the humans he felt closest too.

“Don't ever change, Cas.” Dean only mumbled to him, tilting his chin up and kissing him again.


End file.
